Shattered Glass
by ShivaVixen
Summary: AU. They all hold different pieces, they all know it's impossible to put back together, but even shattered, they can see how it's meant to be, and they will do their best before it's all too late. All they need, is a key and a hope.
1. Chapter 1

**This is an Alternate Universe story, but it's going to be told in bits and pieces and through different characters points of view- at most, there will be three people sharing a chapter, but generally it will be one or two points of view per chapter. The best way to put it is that this story is actually a series of different events seen through the eyes of different people that combine to make a plot. So go on and give it a read, and let me know what you think. I'm experimenting with a new writing style.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Bleach (manga/anime OR the chemical)**

Shattering Glass I

Ashido Kano had spent centuries hunting and fighting the hollows in Hueco Mundo. Had spent most of them alone, his team cut down even as he tried and failed to save even just one of them. He'd never really explored the place outside of the Forest of Menos, but he knew generally which direction everything was. Los Noches, the palace of Arrancar, was south, the desert surrounded and sometimes covered everything else.

It had been centuries of monotonous fighting, and so it didn't surprise Ashido too much to one day realize that the stitch in his side from constant fighting wasn't a stitch, it was a gash that was spilling blood. The Hollows had retreated, probably looking for easier prey, and Ashido slumped against a tree.

He was getting tired, tired of the constant fights, tired of the solitude, tired of existing when the rest of his team were already dead. He was no coward, he would not lie down and die, but he was starting to yearn for a battle in which the hollows weren't as weak, in which he might die fighting.

Of course, there was the matter of his soul then getting devoured, but he wasn't sure he'd care at that point.

A branch snapped, and Ashido's head snapped up, focusing on a thin, strangely dressed teenage boy. A slightly mangled soul-chain hung down his front, and he looked rather beat up and scared. Ashido frowned, the boy's reiatsu was pulsing- with the power of shinigami. Ashido tried to stand, but found he couldn't even push off the tree he leaned against. The wound was poisoned.

"Hey, do you know where we are?"

"We're in Hueco Mundo, home of the negative spirits called hollows." Ashido studied the boy, despite being roughed up, he looked alright, for a soul trapped in this place. "Plus spirits are you and me- Shinigami and Human." His attention focused on the chain, it was mangled, but it still looked solid and strong- was the boy still alive? Then how'd he get here?

"How do we get out of here, then?"

"We don't. Once you're here, there's no way out unless you lose your heart and become a hollow." Ashido closed his eyes. A living soul- the kid shouldn't be here. A gentle pulse from the kid's reiatsu- the kid had the strongest he'd ever felt- and he opened to look at him, frowning at the obviously shinigami power- no human was ever born from a Shinigami, it was impossible. "Your reiatsu's leaking all over the place, you're going to start attracting hollows." The boy scowled at Ashido.

"And what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Pull it in. Close your eyes, find your reiatsu, and pull it in under your skin." The boy scowled, but actually obeyed, and a minute later the boy's aura faded almost completely. "Good, that's much better, try to keep it in." Ashido's vision grayed and almost tunneled, but he blinked the world back into focus. Was he dying? He'd lost a lot blood and the wound had some sort of paralyetic poison in it. Something touched the wound, and Ashido blinked to see the boy, jacket removed, trying to put pressure on the wound. "It's no use, kid, there's poison in it."

"Would you rather I let you keep bleeding out? I need someone's help to survive." The boy retorted, and Ashido couldn't help the small smile. An idea- forbidden, treasonous, but an idea nonetheless- came to him.

The boy had shinigami powers of his own. They were close to manifesting, but barely- the boy was still living, so he wouldn't be able to make a contract with a Zanpakuto, those were made when one died and received a sword in the seireitei. And mangled chain or not, the boy was still alive, though for how much longer was unknown- one of the links on the chain looked like it was being dissolved as he watched. But if he gave his power to the boy now . . . it would bring out the boy's power and would act as a template for it- would show how the boy could survive . . . and Ashido was dying anyway, so he wouldn't be executed for treason if it was ever discovered that the boy had received a boost of shinigami powers from someone else. Though technically, all Ashido would actually be doing is using his power to pull the boy's shinigami powers to the forefront of his soul.

"Tell me, do you have something to fight for?" Their eyes met, and Ashido could clearly see the concern barely masked by the boy's frown, and the slightest flicker of agreement to the question. "Something that you would fight for even if you were bloody and beaten? A reason you will never lose your heart?"

"My sisters, my dad and my friends. I'd do anything for them." The boy responded. "They are my heart."

"Then," When had his sword gotten so heavy? His vision went completely gray for a moment, before he could continue, "take my sword and pierce your heart. I can give you the power to fight hollows, to survive." The boy was holding the blade, but hadn't placed it against his heart.

"What about you?" Ashido couldn't stop the smile that crossed his face. This boy was scared and in an unknown place, but he was showing concern for someone he had barely met. This would be a good kid to give his power to.

"I'm dying, kid, don't have much time left, even if I didn't give you this power. Just remember, use a blade to exterminate hollows- destroying them, purifies the souls that make them up and sends them to the Seireitei, or heaven, if you prefer- and don't lose your heart or your nerve for a moment, or you'll never see your family again."

"Alright." The boy placed the tip against his chest, right over his heart. "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

" . . . I'm Ashido Kano." He almost let go of the hilt as the resulting explosion of reiatsu as the boy's shinigami powers manifested almost blew him away. Ashido crumpled to the ground, hazy vision making out the orange hair and black robes. In the boys hand was an overlarge katana- a weapon that was just an extension of the boy's soul and spirit energy, not a true zanpakuto- but it would work like one. "One more thing, Ichigo." The boy knelt over him. "If you find a soul that's lost, if you can rescue it before the hollows turn it into one of them, use the hilt of your sword to purify them." He wasn't sure if the words even left his mouth, but he felt the boy grip his hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "Good Luck, Ichigo Kurosaki." The boy's grip on his hand tightened, and Ashido Kano, the lone shinigami hunter of Menos Forest, finally rejoined his teammates.

**So, how was that? Okay, good, awesome, or 'eh', bad, horrible? **

**(The following is a long author's note, that I figured you wouldn't want at the beginning of the chapter, if you want, you can just skip straight to the review button.)**

**This is going to be AU (obviously, please note that Ichigo is in Hueco Mundo and getting his powers jumpstarted by Ashido instead of Rukia or Urahara) So I'm only going to be taking parts of the manga canon and expanding on them, as well as parts of the anime and the movies and expanding on those as well. The point of this note is: DON'T REVIEW COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING NOT BEING CANON! I have already warned you multiple times that it was AU, so really, what you're going to get is my view on how the characters could have developed with a different set of circumstances than shown in Manga and Anime Canon.**

**Also, Pairings. I am well aware that people like certain pairings and can be avid fanatics in support of the pairing they like (I have seen more debates on youtube comments about this topic than the videos themselves, and am quite sure there are several forums on this site dedicated to each pairing. I know for a fact there are several communities for the various pairings) and that being said- I'm not a big romance fan, I've read several good fics with various pairings, and all were very good, but don't expect a lot of fluff from me. If it might help the story go forward and the characters to develop further, I'll pair characters up, but only then. I will always use canon pairings, that is, pairings expressly stated to exist by Kubo-sensei, like MatsumotoxGin, or ByakuyaxHisana. So please, don't review asking for a certain pairing.**

**On that same vein- Yaoi. I'm not a big fan, though I have read some of it just to see what was out there. I will exploit it for humor, (Soifon's crush on Yoruichi, Yumichika's love of beauty) but just because I have one character teasing another doesn't mean that I'll pair them up. If there is a scene of two guys hugging and or comforting each other, I can assure you right now, it'll be out of friendship, not romance. Some characters will be put through some emotional hell, I mean, stress, and as macho and prideful as they all are, I see nothing gay about a guy giving comfort in the form of a hug to another guy, especially if one is older than the other. Physical contact can be a lot more reassuring than words, after all. (Though, now that I think about it, Ichigo's main form of reassuring physical contact tends to be a fist to the face.) So, yeah, any heart-to-heart you see between members of the same sex will more likely be out of friendship or brothers/sisters/mentors relationships, than of yaoi leanings. **

**That all being said, I love constructive criticism and suggestions on how I might develop the characters, it's really helpful, especially when I have writers block. So if someone suggests a relationship that they think will help the character's development in some way (and actually tell me why) then I will take that into consideration. I may not actually use it in the story, but it will be considered from all angles.**

**Finally, Flames- I have yet to have a flamer that actually has a penname on this site, and who doesn't use profanity and bad grammar. I allow anonymous reviews because sometimes people don't have the time to login and review when they get the email alert, or do not actually have an account but still enjoy reading anyway, and I like to hear their input. It really annoys me that people take advantage of that to pretty much just type as many expletives as they can. So if you're going to flame- at least learn how to spell (or even type, for that matter) before you do. Flames will be deleted and ignored, but not after I have a good laugh at the grammar and spelling.**

**Sorry about the long author's note, but I thought I'd just put it out there.**

**(I know 'Soifon' is supposed to be spelled 'Sui-feng', but I have seen both spellings used in fics and so I'm going to use the one I'm most comfortable with.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The piece of paper saying I own Bleach was eaten by a hollow before it was made official.**

**Remember, this is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, and the characters are making different choices than the ones they made in cannon.**

Shattering Glass II

Muramasa coughed, too weak to try and leave the Forest of Menos where he had come to hunt for hollows to sustain him. He was tired, and the agony of the separation from his wielder was starting to get to him (though to be honest, he had been steadily declining since the separation). He should have been able to sense Koga- should have been able to find where his wielder had been sealed away, should have been able to speak to his wielder's soul, no matter where he was, sealed or not- but he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hear anything from Koga.

Tears of blood leaked from his eyes, and he wiped them away. "Koga, where are you? Koga . . ."

"Hey, you alright?" Muramasa stood, wary as a young shinigami- with short and unruly orange hair- landed nearby. "I heard crying, was that you?"

"That's none of your business." Muramasa was about to turn away when he realized something about the overlarge katanna in the shinigami's hand. It didn't have a soul of its own, it was just an extension of the boy's already considerable power. He frowned. "Shinigami, where did you get that blade?" The shinigami looked startled, but it quickly faded into a smirk.

"That's none of your business." Muramasa felt his lips twitch despite himself. This shinigami was interesting, that was certain. "You're not a lost soul, you're not a shinigami or even a hollow, I can tell that much, so what are you?"

"A Zanpakuto." The boy looked confused, and Muramasa frowned. "Surely you know what a Zanpakuto is, Shinigami, I know that is taught at the academy."

"Perhaps, but I never went to the Seireitei, Zanpakuto," Muramasa blinked, "I've been stuck here ever since my soul got brought here by a hollow- a dying shinigami gave me his powers to keep me from actually dying." The Shinigami explained, sword lifted to rest on his shoulder. "You need a place to stay, Zanpakuto? Somethings been stirring up the menos grande, and I need to rest before I try fighting anymore."

Muramasa's first thought was refusal, but the Shinigami had an . . . openness, about him. Something about the boy made Muramasa nod and follow him to a cave, expertly hidden in the rock.

The Zanpakuto was bent almost double in a coughing fit the moment they stopped. He hadn't thought he had gotten this weak- he was going to have to devour more hollows to keep active at this rate. The first thing Muramasa noticed when he could finally breathe was the hand of the shinigami steadying him. It was warm and strong, and Muramasa quickly pulled away. The Shinigami didn't take offense, just gave a slight nod and lit a small batch of kindling to start a fire.

There wasn't much to the cave, and Muramasa was slightly amused to see several pelts of different hollows in a pile- the Shinigami's bed, apparently. "Spartan, isn't it?"

"It's better than nothing. And I can hear the hollows coming from miles away." The Shinigami gestured to the bed. "Have a seat, I've got some eggplant and squash if you want to eat."

"Do you always invite strangers into your home without knowing their names or giving yours Shinigami? I could try and kill you in your sleep." The moment Muramasa said it, he instantly regretted it- his wielder might not be able to hear him, but that didn't give him the right to be chummy with strangers- even if they weren't technically part of the Seireitei.

"You're not evil." Muramasa blinked, unnerved at the sudden intensity of the Shinigami's gaze. It was if he was seeing right into him. "You're ill and sad about something, maybe even desperate, but you're not evil."

"How can you be sure?"

"Why did you come with me, if you're wary about strangers?" Muramasa didn't know how to answer that- he had just known that the Shinigami wouldn't hurt him, that he could trust.

"Instinct." It was the only answer he could give, and the Shinigami nodded, indicating that he was the same. The talk meandered around several vague topics, with long silences in between each topic. Muramasa enjoyed talking to the shinigami, who was very interested in learning about the Seireitei. It was a big change from the silence that had plagued him for years.

Eventually, the topic returned to a previous question.

"What is a Zanpakuto?" The shinigami asked again. Muramasa absently studied the blade the shinigami carried. It was scratched and gouged, even though it was well cared for. Perhaps over time, it could become an actual Zanpakuto, not just a physical extension of the shinigami's soul. But that would mean that the boy's potential would always be limited.

"A Zanpakuto bonds with a shinigami when they die and are born into the Seireitei. They become whatever that shinigami needs, a weapon, a friend, someone that the shinigami can rely on when things become difficult. They work together as a team, and just as a Shinigami gives their zanpakuto strength, so too can a zanpakuto give their shinigami their strength." Even as he spoke, Muramasa's grief returned full-force. _Where are you Koga? Can you hear me?_

"Who's Koga?" Muramasa's head snapped to look at the Shinigami, eyes widening. Had the boy heard his thoughts? "He's who you were crying for earlier, right? Is he your shinigami? Why aren't you with him?" _From just a name, he figured all the out?_

"How? How did you . . ." Muramasa stood, staring at the shinigami that rose from his position by the fire to better meet the Zanpakuto's eyes. Muramasa wished he hadn't, because there was something there that glittered and whispered 'tell me, I can help you'. "I don't know," the words came out before he even knew what he was saying, "I don't know, I can't find him, he's been sealed away!" Muramasa backed up as the words left him, but his back hit the cavern wall. He felt ill and tired, and suddenly it was all too much. More words tumbled out, none he meant to say to anyone, he was sure, and probably didn't make much sense, but the strange Shinigami was suddenly right next to him and holding him as bloody tears fell from his eyes. Muramasa's head rested against the shinigami's chest and the rock-steady beat of his heart was comforting after so much silence.

"It's not all your fault, you know." Muramasa's eyes widened, as he slowly came back to his senses. "Just because he's your shinigami, doesn't mean you have to bend over backwards for his every whim- he stopped caring about you and everything else when it got in his way of gaining power." Muramasa felt a slight lurch where his stomach should have been. _Did I tell him everything?_ He must have, because there was no way the Shinigami would have known otherwise.

"No, he wouldn't . . ." Muramasa whispered weakly. "He wouldn't have thrown me away, I have to find him."

"You said it yourself, and you won't be able to, look." The shinigami revealed a red ribbon that attached to Muramasa's chest, and he instinctively knew it was his bond to Koga- but it was fraying and thread bare, looked like it would snap at any moment. "This is why you can't hear him, why you can't sense him. And if you're so desperate to hold onto this connection, why do you think it's frayed so badly? Koga-" Muramasa didn't let him finish. His nails cut the shinigami's face and the two moved apart.

"Shut up! What would you know, you who has no zanpakuto? You'd never understand that bond." Muramasa wiped away the blood that had fallen from his eyes.

"I know a bad relationship when I hear and see one! I'm trying to warn you, Koga doesn't care about you anymore, you'd have been able to sense him no matter what had him sealed away, you would have been able to _hear_ him! Or did you think, when the hunters were closing in, that he would have ignored the sword in his hand to fight on his own? You said Zanpakuto share thoughts with their wielders, then that _includes_ memories- access Koga's and see for yourself!" Muramasa summoned his blade form and attacked the Shinigami.

"Shut up!" The Shinigami had blocked in time. "You know nothing!"

"You know I'm right, you know he stopped caring about you. Why do this to yourself?" One bloody tear escaped, and Muramasa broke the hold of their swords and ran- he made himself deaf to the Shinigami's shout of surprise and was out of the cave and jumping from tree to tree-

_Because Koga wouldn't throw him away, and he would rescue Koga and things would be alright again, and he hadn't been tossed aside-_

_But Koga had shouted at him and told him to stop speaking, that he was nothing-_

"_Stop!_" He froze, almost tripping, as the single word thundered through his body. He turned. The Shinigami landed behind him, and Muramasa didn't know what was worse. The fact the Shinigami now in front of him could see into his heart somehow and all his pain, or the fact that apparently, this shinigami could speak directly to his soul, could reach him even when his own wielder couldn't.

"What's your name, shinigami?" Muramasa asked, stalling for time, _just a few more moments, a few more minutes . . ._

"Ichigo Kurosaki. And yours?" _A few more moments . . ._

"Beat me and I'll tell you." _More time, please, I need more time!_

They were both handicapped, but Muramasa's weakness came through and his attacks became slower and his blocks became weaker, and Ichigo knocked him down, overlarge katana cracking in places even as he brought the tip to Muramasa's throat.

"My name is Muramasa."

"Muramasa, why are you doing this to yourself? Are you that desperate for Koga that you would hurt the innocent and destroy the world just to have him ignore you again?" Muramasa studied the beaten blade again. It had been made from Ichigo's soul, so his power was in it, but it could never return the power- Ichigo had been fighting at half his power ever since the sword formed. Over time, it would become a handicap, he wouldn't be able to control his own power, because part of his soul would constantly pull it.

Ichigo could hide his reiatsu, but he could not hope to even manage that if he didn't learn how to control it _now_. The Shinigami who had jumpstarted the boy's powers had done him no favors, in the regard.

He couldn't hear Koga, but he could hear Ichigo- knew that the young shinigami in front of him wasn't interested in the idea of gaining power to lord it over anyone, knew that Ichigo wanted the power to protect what was his and if Muramasa asked, he had no doubt Ichigo would protect him from the Soul Society even if it was one against a million.

_I have no more time . . ._

"I loved him. He was my wielder, he was not always like this." The bloody tears were falling down his face again.

"He's not the same wielder you knew, Muramasa, that Koga died, you said it yourself, he went insane with the desire for power."

"I know." A broken whisper, and Muramasa was startled to realize that it was his. "What of you, Kurosaki? This blade of yours will always be a handicap. It is not a zanpakuto."

"I know." He really did, Muramasa could tell, he knew that the blade in his hand was a good one as blades went, but that it was not able to speak to him. "But what else do I have, Muramasa?" For a moment, they just stared at each other, and finally, Muramasa moved, placing his hand on the blade at his neck.

"Me." He had no wielder anymore, there would be no point to continuing his existence if he didn't have one. Kurosaki had no zanpakuto, and he wouldn't survive long if he didn't have one, as well as a mentor to teach him control and kido instead of focusing on brute swordplay. "You can use me." As he spoke the overlarge katana broke and disintergrated, flowing back into Ichigo as Muramasa stood up, and pointed his blade at Ichigo's heart.

"Only if you wish, Muramasa." For an answer, Muramasa cut the threadbare ribbon holding him to Koga. Ichigo reached out, and pulled the blade to his heart.

Muramasa pushed his power and his being into Ichigo, and could feel the warm soul enfold him as if in an embrace and for the first time in a very long time, he felt whole.

Zanpakuto powers came from their wielder's own talents. With Koga, it was the ability to interfere with their opponents perception that Muramasa had used. Ichigo wasn't able to do that- what he was able to do, however, was see into someone's heart and open it, earning their loyalty in return. Ichigo was empathetic, and when he had crossed blades with Muramasa, he had been able to see directly into his heart.

Muramasa smiled. He wouldn't be able to use illusions anymore, but he would still be capable of going into other zanpakuto's and making them manifest- maybe even turning their loyalties to his own master.

Right now, though, Ichigo needed a mentor, someone to set rules and explain everything that involved Shinigami and the afterlife, and Koga's memories that pulsed in the back of his mind would help- he could teach Ichigo the ways of the upper class, so he would know how to deal with politics, teach him how to evade capture- he had failed with Koga, but Ichigo was different, Ichigo didn't want to hear how strong he already was, he wanted to hear how he could get better, how to get stronger and be pushed to his limits and beyond to achieve that goal. As Muramasa settled into the young man's soul, he found a tiny seed- what would one day become the boy's Zanpakuto if he had actually died, instead of had his shinigami powers accessed while he was living. Someday, when Ichigo did die, Muramasa would merge with that seed and be reborn with a new name. But for now . . .

"_When you need me, just say . . . Whisper, Muramasa."_

**Notes on Zanpakuto- the way I understand it, Zanpakuto bond to Shinigami when they enter the Soul Society.**

**Ichigo is the exception, since he's still alive, but both sides of Tensa Zangetsu state that they were part of Ichigo's soul, which means that technically, Zangetsu isn't a real zanpakuto, it's just Ichigo's soul that split and molded into zanpakuto form.**

**Technically. It's really hard to tell since a lot of plot devices are usually ignored or not explained.**

**Zanpakuto's powers come from the shinigami that they're bonded to, and Koga claims that the use of reflections and the altering of perception that Muramasa uses comes from his own unique ability, so Muramasa will lose that.**

**Ichigo has stated a couple times that he's capable of reading his opponents heart when he fights, and in the first fight with Kenpachi, he is able to hear that unnamed sword crying. In the diamond dust rebellion, he is able to see Kusaka's memory when they cross swords.**

**Throughout both the manga and the anime, we've seen Ichigo turn rivals into friends (Ishida, Renji, half the Seireitei- the list goes pretty long) and usually it's because he can see and understand what they're going through. Not to mention, once they become his friends, they become loyal to the point of fighting for him against their own allies.**

**Now combine that ability with Muramasa's, and Ichigo suddenly becomes a lot more dangerous on the battlefield. **

**See where I'm going? There are going to be more changes, but I just wanted to point out the main reason why I thought Ichigo and Muramasa were compatible.**

**(Ironically, I wrote this scene before I read Hogyoko ex Machina a story you can find on my favorites, after that, I felt really justified in leaving the scene as it is, I swear, I did not copy anything from that story, it was just a coincidence)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.**

Shattering Glass III

Ishida Ryuuken sighed as he reattached the chart to the foot of the bed. "There's nothing more I can do, Isshin. I don't have to power to bring his soul back." Isshin Kurosaki glanced up at his friend, still holding the hand of his son's comatose body.

"I know." Isshin wished it was otherwise. "Kisuke . . . Kisuke said there's still a chance for him to find his way back, as long as his body stays alive." Ryuuken adjusted his glasses. "How's Uryuu doing?"

"Training. Constantly. He believes it was his fault."

"How? None of us sensed that Hollow until it was too late."

"He had his bow, he should have drawn quicker." Ryuuken sighed. "I imagine Yasutora and Inoue are experiencing similar feelings of guilt?"

"Chad promised Ichigo he would always have his back and protect what he wanted to protect. The fact he couldn't see the hollow until after everything was over doesn't matter as much as the fact he could have been the one to take the hit if he had moved to cover Ichigo's back the moment Ichigo reacted." Isshin rubbed his eyes. "He's taken to stopping by everyday to check on the girls and me. Inoue-chan has started doing that as well, actually, though with her she brings groceries and pre-packaged snacks."

"They're good kids." Ryuuken scowled as he realized that Isshin was starting to turn as pale as the form on the bed. "And you need to sleep. It won't do for Ichigo to wake up only to have you collapse right after." Isshin looked ready to argue. "Go home, Isshin, you know I'll let you know the moment something happens."

"Thanks, Ryuuken." He left, and Ryuuken adjusted his glasses before glaring at the window.

"There are doors for a reason, Urahara, I would appreciate it if you used them."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time." Urahara Kisuke adjusted his hat before looking at the inert form of Ichigo Kurosaki's body. "How's he doing?" He moved forward as he asked, gently checking the pulse in the boy's neck.

"Stable, but his heart rate has spiked twice this past month. It settled rather quickly both times."

"Then he's still fighting to get back to us- or rather, his family." Urahara gave a small smile, before sobering quickly. "Ishida-san, there's been an unexpected development."

"That seems to be happening a lot these past few months, ever since Kurosaki-kun got attacked."

"The Central 46 has been massacred." Ryuuken stiffened and looked at Urahara. "Three captains have turned traitor, and well, I need you to do me a favor."

"No. I will not get involved in a Shinigami Civil war." Ryuuken scowled, and then for the sake of doing something made sure the blanket covering Ichigo was straight. "Shouldn't you have told this to Isshin?"

"Would you ask a drowning man to save another? Ishida-san, if-"

"No. I will look after and protect Kurosaki-kun, but I will not get involved in this war." For all his claims of not caring about the quincy, Ryuuken was still quick to summon his bow. "Ask someone else."

" . . . Very well, then. I'll leave Kurosaki-kun in your capable hands." As the exiled Shinigami turned shop owner left, Ryuuken scowled, before glancing at the prone form of Ichigo. He and Isshin had met in med school, and it had been pretty obvious at the time that the other had not been around technology at all. For all of Isshin's playing the fool, and of Ryuuken's own stubborn refusal to stoop to the other man's level, the two had managed to become friends of sorts. They'd never been close, but there had been a couple nights, before Isshin's powers had been completely drained away, where the two had taken down wandering hollows together. They'd both been in the background for each other's wedding, and Ryuuken had to stopped to visit the maternity ward when Ichigo was born (Isshin doing the same thing, though lying it was to check on a regular at his clinic). Ryuuken had always kept an eye on the Kurosaki family, in particular Ichigo since he could sense the boy's Reiatsu clearly.

Ryuuken had warned Isshin about it, especially because the former shinigami had lost the ability to sense it for himself. (Isshin had come to him a couple of days ago, reporting that his own power was starting to return. He could see shapes again.) But he hadn't thought that a hollow would get under their radar so easily- either Urahara or himself usually sensed it, and normally the shinigami representative took care of it. With a soft sigh he absently fixed the boy's orange hair, making a note he'd have to get a nurse to cut it soon. They'd failed to protect, and suddenly, the lines between the worlds had fallen apart.

The worst part was watching the body in front of him barely cling to life (Though was it really life when he knew the soul was elsewhere?) and feeling both grateful and guilty because he kept thinking _at least it wasn't my son_. He shoved that thought down, and left to continue his rounds.

* * *

Miles away, another Quincy was hitting, and destroying, several practice targets. Ishida Uryuu growled, and reluctantly stopped shooting as the last of his targets exploded in smoke. Panting slightly, the sudden sound of clapping made him whirl and lift his bow once more- only to see Urahara leaning against a tree.

"Impressive destruction, Ishida-kun."

"Urahara-san, what brings you here?" They'd met outside Kurosaki's hospital room, the shop-keeper asking questions about the attack, and the sudden spiral of learning that Kurosaki was the son of a shinigami, that his father knew and was even somewhat close to, and suddenly everything he thought he had known quickly tilted on its axis as the town's residents who were spiritually aware and awake suddenly marshaled themselves because a hollow that no one had even noticed until it was too late was an anomally that meant trouble.

Needless to say, he'd gotten quite a headache with all the revelations that happened in such a short time.

"Well, I need a favor, to be perfectly blunt. I know you and Kurosaki-kun weren't even on speaking terms when he . . . left, but if I told you there was a chance I could send you to where his soul was, what would you say?"

" . . . What are the odds of both of us coming back?" He owed Kurosaki- owed him not only for the hit he took by getting in between them and the hollow, but also because he had missed taking out the hollow before it escaped, taking Kurosaki's soul.

"Right now, less than fifty percent. I'm working on making sure that changes, but I wanted to know if you would do it."

"I might not like Shinigami, but that doesn't change the fact that I owe Kurosaki, even though he's half of one. I'll be ready whenever you are."

"Wonderful!" Urahara smiled, and left. He felt a little bad about going behind Ryuuken's back and dragging Uryuu into the war, but it would be the only way- the only chance- to get Ichigo's soul back from Hueco Mundo. The smile slipped off his face. There was a factor that he had not told anyone, not even Yoruchi or Tessai, but the possibility existed that even as a (technically) living soul, Ichigo could become a hollow.

If that happened, then the fight that would follow would kill Ichigo for good. Hirako Shinji and the vizards had been a bit more optimistic, but their optimism had included Ichigo losing control of a limb, even being unable to re-enter his body.

Urahara sighed. He had been keeping an eye on Isshin's eldest since after the incident that killed Kurosaki Masaki. He would have loved to have met the kid before- maybe pretending to be an old school friend of Isshin's? The boy just had an aura that screamed 'easy to tease'. Yoruchi had given her seal of approval when Ichigo had chased off some boys that were hurting a cat.

Pushing the wishes of what could have been away, he entered his shop, only to sigh as he saw the group of shinigami that were waiting for him. Why were things always so difficult?_ Of course, it's going to get worse before it gets better- that always happens. _

**Chaos theory- simply put, a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a storm somewhere else. Little things really do matter:**

"**For want of a nail, the horseshoe was lost,**

**For want of a horseshoe, the horse was lost,**

**For want of a horse, the rider was lost,**

**For want of a rider, the message was lost,**

**For want of a message, the battle was lost,**

**For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,**

**And all for the want of a horseshoe nail."**

**(I have no idea where this came from, but this is how I remember it going.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, September . . . I actually started writing this story last year, about the same time, in reaction to my Dad's heart attack and hospital stay (He's fine, healthier than ever, but it was scary there for a while). I've got twenty chapters already written, so I'll be posting them as I go through and edit them.**

**Can't believe it's been a year already . . .**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach, or it's characters.**

Shattering Glass IV

Yuzu bit her lip as she washed the plates, uneasy with the heavy silence that filled the house. She missed her brother- he wasn't loud and outgoing, but she'd always been able to hear him moving about his room, or coming down the stairs and standing behind her to ask what was for dinner. His absence created a strain that neither her sister nor her father knew how to fix or even lessen. She glanced at the living room, where her sister was sharing a couch with a fuzzy shape with white hair. She'd gotten better at seeing them recently, which made it a lot easier as there were a couple that didn't like wearing their gigai.

"So, uh, what's for dinner?" She jumped and looked back at the red-head teen (he was a lieutenant?) that was also staying with them.

"Just eggs and leeks, with rice and a salad. I wasn't sure what you liked, Abarai-san."

"Call me Renji, please. If I'm going to be here for a while, it would be better to drop the formality."

"Ah, okay, Renji-san. You can call me Yuzu."

"Just Renji, Yuzu-chan. Do you need any help?"

"If you could tell the others food is ready?" Renji nodded and smiled before walking away. Yuzu smiled sadly, thinking how her brother would have liked to meet Renji- they were so much alike, in some ways.

In a moment, those that weren't in their gigai had slipped into them, and everyone was settled at the table. Yuzu sat between Renji and a busty blonde named Matsumoto Rangiku (it was hard not to be envious of the older woman's curves, given that her own body was still quite flat-chested.) Next to her was the white haired kid (that was actually Matsumoto's captain) Hitsugaya Toshiro, with Karin sitting on his other side. Next to Karin was Kuchiki Rukia, who was just barely taller than Karin, and a bald man that had insisted on them just calling him Ikkaku and left it at that. Her dad was sitting between Ikkaku and Renji.

"So, how's your son doing? Any change?" Renji asked hesitantly, narrowly avoiding being kicked by Rukia.

"No, but the fact he hasn't gotten worse is an encouraging sign- it means he's still holding onto life with an iron grip somewhere." Isshin gave Renji a small smile. "There's unfortunately not much we can do other than wait for him to find his way back."

"Sounds like quite a guy, did he really try to take on that hollow with just his bare hands?" Rukia didn't miss her target this time. Unfortunately, Ikkaku didn't care. "What? I'm just saying, he sounds like a perfect fit for the eleventh."

"Will you stop trying to recruit the living? First that Arisawa girl, now Kurosaki."

"I'm not recruiting them, I'm just making a note so that when they do get to soul society, they'll be in a good division." Ikkaku defended.

"What division were you in dad?" Yuzu asked, remembering that her dad was actually a shinigami captain (or had been, she didn't quite follow which one when he had tried to explain to her and Karin what was going on and why these people were staying with them).

"I, uh, actually was the captain of the tenth." Hitsugaya blinked as he looked at the man that previously headed his division. "What, I can be responsible!"

"I don't think that's what he's surprised about." Karin rolled her eyes. Then noticed her sister rubbing her eyes for the second time in a few seconds. "Yuzu, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." She blinked at something over Matsumoto's shoulder, before rubbing her eyes again. "Karin, is that really a girl playing with a ball that just came through our wall?" Karin almost got whiplash as she turned to look at a tiny toddler in a kimono that was chasing a ball in their living room.

"Yeah- wait, you can see her clearly? What color's the kimono?"

"Red with orange leaves- the ball's blue."

"Poor kid, must've been playing in the street." Matsumoto left her gigai and went over to interact with the little girl and send her on her way to the Soul Society. Yuzu watched in curiosity.

"Matsumoto-san, you have a pretty uniform." Matsumoto smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you, Yuzu-chan."

* * *

Karin leaned back on the couch with a sigh. Yuzu was estatic with now being able to see- but it wasn't because what everyone else thought, of it being her long time wish that finally came true. No, it was because now, even if Ichigo's soul came back and couldn't go into his body, (Karin had heard more than one concern expressed at the prolonged separation) Yuzu would still be able to see her brother. Karin felt her lips twitch into a wry half smile, truth be told, that would be the only reason Karin would ever be happy about her ability to see ghosts.

Karin sighed and glanced over at where Toshiro was sitting, clearly lost in the soccer game. He was a lot like her, both of them acted much older than they actually were, especially when the adults they lived/worked with acted so childish.

Speaking of, said two adults were snickering in a corner. Karin got up and grabbed Toshiro's shoulder so they could investigate.

"Dad, you are not having a drinking contest! I don't care if it's to loosen up, you're not drinking!"

"Matsumoto, how did you even bring this sake from the Seireitei? You are not drinking while on duty!"

Ignoring the two adults getting yelled at by the younger teenagers, Renji proceeded to explain the rich-man, poor-man card game to Yuzu as Ikkaku dealt the cards. Yuzu smiled weakly, remembering a time when her older brother had always been the one to beat up their dad. She really missed him.

**No real comments on this chapter, other than it shows a couple changes that I thought I'd make.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Still Don't own bleach.**

Shattering Glass V

The explosion that rocked the school was labeled a gas explosion, but that's only because no sane person would have believed it was caused by a half-mexican giant with a strange arm blowing up a hollow.

Of course, explaining how his right arm changed was a bit more difficult.

Sado 'Chad' Yatsora sighed as he flexed his arm. How the armor had formed on his arm was a mystery, more so than how it had vanished when he no longer needed it. Unfortunately, he couldn't call it on his own terms, yet, it was still a very much instinctive thing.

"You alright?" Ikkaku joined him, and Chad just gave a slight nod. "Kurosaki was your best friend, right?"

"Yeah, we were both shunned in middle school, me because of my looks and him because of his orange hair." Chad leaned back. "Ichigo had it a bit worse than me, most avoided me because I was so big. Ichigo . . . he got pretty good at fighting groups without backup, until one gang decided to have several jump him from behind and hold him down." Ikkaku gave a slight hiss, Chad gave a small smile, he liked the bald shinigami's sense of honor in a fight- Ichigo would have too. "I intervened, after that we stuck together so we wouldn't get jumped from behind." Idly he began to play with the medal he wore around his neck.

"And the rest is history, right?" Chad nodded. "Well, we talked to Urahara about your arm- he says it's from Kurosaki."

"What?"

"When Kurosaki jumped in front to shield you, he also unconsciously tried to use his reiatsu to do so. You, Inoue and Ishida were pretty much blasted with it, and it 'woke up' your awareness. You were able to see the hollow after Kurosaki got hit, right?" Chad nodded. "We don't think there will be any change to Ishida's abilities, since he was already capable of it, but we need to keep an eye on Inoue, especially if there's another hollow attack."

"Alright. Yuzu can see now, too?"

"Yes. Which means she'll be able to keep an eye out for trouble. I don't know why that bastard Aizen turned his attention to the Kurosaki family, but it can't be good."

"He was a captain?" All Chad had ever paid attention to was the fact that there was a threat against his best friend's family. He was more than willing to protect them in Ichigo's place.

"Yeah, apparently, he killed off the central 46 and then attacked the Twelfth division- made a large mess and set several experiments free. We're not sure why he caused all the chaos he did, but he almost caused a civil war because no one knew who was on who's side. No one knows what his motives are, but we do know that something caused him to move earlier than he wanted- he was using the chaos to cover up _something_, but we don't know what."

"And the Kurosaki family is in the middle of it?" If only Ichigo was here, despite his outward appearance and actions, Ichigo was smart. He thought best on his feet- soccer and any other team game in gym quickly became Ichigo directing the rest of whatever team he was on in tactics. He could always see things others couldn't (not just ghosts).

"You guys think a lot, don't you? About that hollow attack?" Chad could only nod. "Was the guy- Ichigo- really that special?"

"I'd die for him and what he wants to protect." Ichigo wouldn't have- _would never _ask that of him, though, because Ichigo would never ask for someone to die when he was capable of giving his life. (Ichigo was still alive, he wasn't going to give up on him). "Do you have someone you'd do that for?"

" . . . Not really, but if I had to pick someone I'd go all out to protect . . . it would probably be my taicho." Ikkaku couldn't really understand the loyalty all three had for their (barely, in Ishida-kun's case) friend. In the Seireitei and Rukongai, dying wasn't that big of a deal- it happened all the time, there was no need to get hung up on it, so going all out to protect someone was just a waste of energy that could be used to take out a hollow. He'd do anything to stay with Zaraki Kenpachi because he owed the 11th division Taicho a lot, would follow him anywhere (the only reason he'd followed the Taicho into the girl's bathroom that one time had been because he was trying to give directions that Kusajishi-fukutaicho kept over-riding, and of course the big guy would listen to her not him- not that Unohana and Soifon had listened) but he wouldn't die for his captain- die fighting under him, yes, die for him, no.

It must be a living thing.

* * *

"Thought I'd find you here." Renji sat across from Uryuu's work bench as the other teen worked on sketching a design. "You heard about Chad's arm, right?"

"Yes." He didn't look up. He tolerated the Shinigami only because they had a common goal of keeping an eye on the Kurosaki family, but he wasn't going to be friendly. He pushed away the memory of an orange haired teen doing the same thing months ago trying to get another player for some card game- not that the guy knew his name, he'd just noticed that Uryu was sitting alone.

"Urahara's looked into it, he says Kurosaki unleashed a bunch of reitasu in an attempt to shield you guys, and that was what made the other two spiritually aware- and woke up this ability of Chad's." Renji studied the Quincy as the pencil paused a fraction of a second before it continued. He was used to the silent and stoic treatment- Kuchiki Byakuya, his captain, was the same way, after all- so he could read between the lines. "Inoue-chan may develop her own powers, but what we don't know is the effect it could have on you." The pencil paused again, and Renji could see the moment where the teen in front of him went back to seeing a 'almost-just-barely' friend get cut down while he watched.

" . . . That was his?" Uryuu replayed the scene in his mind, focusing on other things than the blood that splurted into the air and Inoue's scream. He had thought the pressure that had held him down, weakened him and made his reflexes slow had been the hollow's, like a cat using a paw to hold down a struggling mouse before it used its teeth. It had been pure _power_, something he had never felt before, and now that he could think and compare, it didn't resemble any type of hollow's power at all. Returning to the present, he met Renji's eyes, the tattooed shinigami studying him silently. "I've felt no difference in my power."

"We don't think you would have. It might be waiting for when you're about to die to activate- would make sense, since that was when Kurosaki released it." Uryuu nodded, that did make sense, in more ways than what Renji had said. Kurosaki knew that he could take care of himself, the orange haired boy hadn't stepped in when some idiot gang-wannabees tried to jump Chad, had just watched as the other took them out quickly and efficiently. So the only time Kurosaki would protect him, would be when he couldn't take care of himself- like when he _hadn't sensed the hollow until it was too late and it was right on top of them._ Uryuu gave a small smirk. It figured, Kurosaki had shown he had a knack for collecting people that didn't have anyone else- the two idiots that practically followed him during school proved it- and somehow Kurosaki had included him without even a by-your-leave.

Not that Uryuu was complaining, it was nice to have people to talk to, especially Orihime, but he had to wonder if things would have been like this if Kurosaki hadn't taken that hit.

**. . . No comments, other than Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Shattering Plans I

Gin Ichimaru kept his eyes closed and a small smirk on his face even while he was seething on the inside and there was no one around. If he had a choice, he would have stabbed Aizen in the back after what he did to Rangiku- but he had missed his chance, and had to play traitor just to get close. To figure out a weak spot in Aizen's planning and weapons.

What was annoying was that he couldn't warn the Gotei 13 (or ten, rather) of what Aizen was after and what he was planning. Too many people would die if he didn't- but to do so would mean he would lose his chance to get revenge.

Unbidden, Rangiku's shocked expression- betrayal and pain making her eyes shimmer- sprang to mind. He sighed, knowing what his Zanpakuto- who acted the part of his conscience since Gin's own had no problem with his current course of action- was trying to say. Rangiku wouldn't approve of his letting worlds burn just for the sake of his revenge on her behalf. She'd probably hate him for it too, if she didn't already.

Not to mention, as a fukutaicho she would be on the front lines, and probably one of the first ones killed. That would make his revenge pointless if that happened.

He was careful and as cunning as the animal his appearance resembled. He got messages- coded ones, of course- to the soutaicho, and had only ever received one in reply, which had pretty much been a pardon and informing Gin that his mission of spying would be allowed by the soutaicho, but he could expect a lot of paperwork and probation when things got back to normal. (That butterfly promptly disintergrated, leaving no trace behind.)

But for all his care and work to keep from being found out- Tosen Kaname still managed to find him out, three months after he had started. Apparently, some fracciones's practicing ceros blew a second reply butterfly off course- ironically a message of warning by the sotaicho, who thought the amount of messages being sent would be too obvious- and straight into Tosen's hands.

Aizen had rejected the very popular suggestion of killing him (though the methods varied, the result was still the same, Gin noted with morbid amusement) and had instead decided to keep him alive. Gin hadn't survived for as long as he had by being foolish, he knew there wasn't a single good reason for Aizen to spare his life. He had thought perhaps Aizen would keep him sending messages, but under hypnotism, so as to feed the Shinigami mis-information, but Aizen instead had him locked away with his reiatsu sealed and Zanpakuto taken away. (He never voiced that thought out-loud, and never would, because if the idea hadn't crossed Aizen's mind on its own, he was not going to suggest it.)

Not too long later he realized that Aizen's definition of 'kept alive', meant the absolute bare minimum needed, but he wasn't going to complain. And it wasn't long until he realized with a jolt why Aizen had done so.

With information no longer being sent by someone on the inside, the second division would have to step up and collect information, no doubt aided by the twelfth (Mayuri had been studying ways to enter Hueco Mundo for years, he'd probably found a way to get in by now, or they could just follow the hollows when they retreated to their world.) He doubted the Soutaicho would have them rescue him, but they would be able to contact him. The problem was, Aizen knew that would be the only possible move left- he really wished he knew what was going on in the bastard's mind, because Aizen had only ever given him pieces of information that didn't connect no matter how he tried to put them together- and was probably waiting for it.

Second Division was good, but Aizen had been studying and planning for hundreds of years- unless Soifon had taken that possibility into account, her division didn't have a chance.

Not long later, Gin found himself correcting his previous thought- Soifon herself didn't have a chance. The stubborn and caustic woman was brought into his cell hissing and spitting at the two Espada that held her, and at Aizen and Tosen who followed them in. Gin had shifted so he could sit against the wall he was chained to, but didn't make a single sound as the espada chained the woman (who was starting to resemble her infamous mentor's cat form). And Aizen had looked at Gin and smiled. Gin had glared back with half open eyes, not getting what Aizen was pleased about, and had watched in stony silence as the four of them left. Soifon finally stopped growling and leaned against her own wall.

"Don't suppose ya have a trick or two still hidden?" Soifon glared at him a moment, but it melted into a stoney expression.

"No, bastards had some women check everywhere." He'd thought her outfit looked a bit crooked. "Did you leave anything out, Ichimaru?"

" . . . No. Aizen never told me how hollows, Arrancars, the Kurosaki family, the King's relics, and the Hogyoku were related."

"Which relic is he looking for?" The relics were hidden all over, not just in the seireitei, but in the human world as well- only one of them was known to the living, but they called the King's Cup the fountain of youth or the holy grail.

"All of them. His end goal is to become King." Soifon stared at Gin as if he had grown a second head and declared his undying love to Kenpachi. He didn't blame her- a captain-level shinigami trying to control just one relic could blow themselves apart. Going for all of them and trying to control them all- if Aizen didn't die multiple times over in the process, he would be too powerful for any of them to even get near, let alone touch.

There was a reason the Spirit king locked himself in a separate dimension, afterall- his energy was so great he wouldn't just reduce a world to ashes, like the sotaicho's bankai was capable of, he would reduce all three worlds, Living, Seireitei, and Hueco Mundo, to _atoms_.

"He's not there yet, the King's Cup has been hidden again," After Ponce de Leon found it in the Florida Everglades (which had been after some Tibetan Monks had found it in the Himalayas), it had been moved to a new location that hadn't been found yet. Only one person ever knew where it was at a time, and that was the 0 division member guarding it- even the soutaicho only knew it had been moved after the fact. So that was safe, she knew, "the King's Seal, that's scheduled to be moved soon, I think," So that relic was in danger, "King's Key- only Sotaicho-sama knows that- The King's Standard-"

"- has been hidden in an active volcano, I remember that." Gin offered, trying to think. This was information that all the Captains would know, so Aizen would learn nothing knew even if he was watching them. "So, the King's Scroll . . . uh, isn't that in-?" He didn't say it out loud, but looked at Soifon with slightly opened eyes. Her eyes widened, but she just nodded. _The First Division's Headquarters._ "Cup, Seal, Key, Standard, Scroll- two more, is one called the King's Quill or sumthin? I can never remember."

"King's Quill?" Soifon raised an eyebrow, "There's no such thing, you're missing King's Scepter and King's Blade." Which only the Central 46 had ever known the location of. Both captive captains were praying that Aizen hadn't gotten the locations out of them before he killed them, they might have been old and rather senile (in Gin's opinion that was the only good Aizen had done) but they surely wouldn't have given up those locations.

"Probably thought that cause of the scroll . . ." Gin muttered to himself. Soifon ignored him.

"Seven Relics . . . Aizen can't possibly believe he'll be able to control them all." Gin just shrugged, and Soifon sighed. "Well, he's not getting any information out of me." The Sotaicho had ordered her not to kill herself if captured, why she didn't know, but perhaps he planned on rescuing them both before Aizen could torture her for information? She doubted it. Even with the collar around her neck that kept her from using her reitasu, she felt the sudden flare of reiatsu- faint and distant, but still distinct- and tried to see out the thin grated window, which was almost next to the ceiling. "What's that?"

"Dunno, Aizen's been hunting it since before I got here, he's become rather obsessed with capturing it alive."

With nothing more to say, the two cell mates fell into silence, both trying to figure out what Aizen was going to do to them.

**Again, no comment, but I just thought it would be fun for there to be seven relics. (Technically six, since the king's key no longer exists . . .)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.**

Shattered Plans II

The Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez raised an eyebrow as a very large and heavy looking black box was brought into Los Noches, Pushed by the Cuarata Ulquiorra, the Tres Tia Harribel and Diez Yammy all looking like someone had steamrolled them- none of their fracciones had returned. Harribel in particular looked ticked off.

"So, what happened, have a rough day?" He mocked, then grinned as Yammy flipped him off.

"We captured the entity, some traitorous arrancars tried to protect him, but we were able to cut them down." For a moment, Grimmjow thought Ulquiorra was answering him, then realized Aizen and the rest of the Espada had come out- though the primera, Coyote Starrk, looked like he was going to fall back asleep. "In the end, it took all three of us going into ressurecion to take him down."

"And Yammy still managed to lose an arm?" The octava espada Szaelaporro Grantz's appearance surprised Grimmjow- he didn't think the Octava even knew there was an outside to Los Noches, with the only places the mad scientist ever went to being the lab or the conference room. Grimmjow looked at Yammy and noted with some surprise that the arm _was_ missing, and the reason why it hadn't regenerated was that whatever they had captured had managed to burn the wound as well. He couldn't help but grin as he looked at the cage, maybe he should have volunteered to help hunt after all, it sounded like it had been a fun fight.

Yammy muttered something under his breath and glared at the box, or rather, solid-walled cage.

"But it's alive?" Aizen was also looking at the box, but with calculating pleasure.

"Yes, we got a collar on it before we shoved it into the cage." Harribel answered. "But Aizen-sama, it's not a hollow, or at least, not a full hollow."

"Oh?" Aizen looked at her.

"It fought like a shinigami, too- it has a blade." Harribel realized how ridiculous she sounded, but she would forever blame that moment on the head injury she had gotten. "But it doesn't feel like either, or even human."

"I see, let's get it into the main room- everyone be prepared, just in case it's managed to get the collar off, since the three of you don't seem to be carrying it's sword." The three winced, or rather, Harribel and Yammy did, Ulquiorra just bowed his head a fraction.

Grimmjow's blood was starting to pump as the walls of the cage fell and the top was removed. He felt mildly disappointed when all that he saw was an orange haired teen wearing a long tattered black coat with white markings crossing the black fabric standing there with his sword loosely held in his right hand. Then the boy _moved._ Grimmjow forgot all about attacking as he grinned with delight at Starrk- the one in between the boy and the door- who only met with two of the boy's blows before being cut open by a third. The quinta espada, Nnoitra Gilga attacked him from behind but a single swing of the boy's sword cut his weapon in two- though that action did delay him enough that Tosen and the Novena Espada got in between him and the door. Grimmjow grinned, then noticed that Aizen was smiling as well. That alone stopped him from joining in the fight when the Novena went down.

"What's your hurry, Kurosaki Ichigo?" The youth stopped fighting and turned. "Yes, I know who you are, I've been keeping an eye on your family ever since you were born. I'd appreciate it if you would stop fighting and we talk like civilized people, or has your stay in Hueco Mundo erased your manners?"

" . . ." The boy lowered his sword, but sent one last look at the door before directing his attention to Aizen. "You're not one to talk, most people send invites, not hunters, when they want someone to visit." Some of the more loyal espada bristled at the blatant disrespect, but Grimmjow laughed. Kid had power and attitude- he liked him already. "But since you want to be polite, why don't you tell me your name, since you already know mine?"

"I'm Sosuke Aizen, but please, just call me Aizen. Is it alright if I call you Kurosaki?" Kurosaki gave a slight nod. "I'm sure you're wondering why I had you brought here, Kurosaki, and I can only admit to my curiousity in what you are- I would have thought you a shinigami, but when I sent my Septima Espada out, you defeated him with a bala. Not a typical Shinigami move. Are you by chance a vizard?"

" . . . First off, why didn't you just come and find me yourself if you wanted to talk? And second, I have no idea what a vizard is." Kurosaki's voice had a mix of annoyance and confusion, and Grimmjow took the time Aizen was apologizing to study his face- small scars from scratches, but those easily faded with time and were only noticeable to the Sexta's cat-like vision, he still had all his teeth and his nose didn't look broken at all (which more likely meant that no one had ever gotten a good enough hit to break it) some bruises from the fight he was just in, and his eyes were kinda dull and foggy gray- wait.

"You're blind!" Grimmjow's announcement cut through Kurosaki's attempt to ask _why_ he was there and drew everyone's attention, first to him, then to Kurosaki's eyes. "And you're still that strong?"

"That's the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, I'm afraid he lacks manners- but I am surprised you fight so well, blind . . ." Aizen shook his head. "I thought you were able to see while you were alive."

" . . . Sand and poison tend to wreck one's eyes." Kurosaki shrugged, a slight scowl forming. "I heard the door close and figured out my position from it before you let me out."

"I see," Behind Kurosaki, Yammy was comically alternating between mouthing 'He's blind' and staring slack-jawed at Kurosaki. Harribel looked thoughtful and Ulquiorra, was as bland as ever. Aizen ignored them, "now, I believe you were going to ask why I brought you here?"

-"The question did cross my mind." Kurosaki interrupted, drily.-

"The answer is I would like to offer you, a job, let's say." Aizen still smiled indulgently at him. "An easy one, for one like you."

"No." Kurosaki interrupted, the scowl deepening.

"You haven't heard me out."

"Don't need to." Kurosaki focused on Aizen. "Perhaps you think you're plans are only known in Los Noches, but there are many hollows, and not all are visible or incapable of speech either. While some of the rumors sound impossible, they all agree on one thing- you're at war with the Seireitei, and one battle ground is the living world." Aizen looked surprised, but it quickly faded. "I'm no fool, Aizen, I won't serve you." All the espada and Tosen tensed at the implication that they were fools, but Grimmjow was still impressed despite himself.

"I would say you're even more of a fool for not, but if that's how you want to play, Kurosaki." Aizen and Tosen simultaneously hit him with two different binding kidos- overkill for someone who's power was being sealed with a collar, but probably necessary given that the kid still had his sword in hand (Which was quickly taken by Starrk). "Fortunately, Kurosaki, the job is one you could do willingly or **un**willingly, and makes no difference to me, either way." Grimmjow watched as the Octava and Cuarta espadas took him away, Starrk leaving with the sword to probably go take a nap, and the rest filing out slowly. "Do you need something, Grimmjow?" Aizen and Tosen were looking at him.

"Just curious as to what you're doing to that kid, sounds like he'd be a fun fight." Aizen smiled indulgently at him.

"Well, perhaps something can be arranged- it'll be a few days, though."

"That's fine, so long as he can fight." Grimmjow grinned, and left.

**I did say you were only to get bits and pieces of the story- though perhaps I should have said that there will be chunks of the story missing until it get filled in later. Any blanks you notice will get answered in future chapters, so just be patient.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Don't own Bleach. **

Shattered Plans III

Orihime's powers manifested the first time the arrancar attacked Karakura. Her shielding and Healing abilities were first, but with some practice she was able to form a couple attacks.

Perhaps out of all of them, she was the most shaken by Ichigo's death- it was like losing Sora all over again. Some days, it just didn't seem real. Like she would get to school and see Ichigo come in with his usual scowl and messy orange hair, only for him not to show.

Tatsuki and Chizuru had both tried to cheer her up in their own way, but she had actually _snapped_ at both of them to leave her alone- it was so rare for her to feel angry that she had no idea that she was capable of doing something like that- and both had retreated, though Tatsuki was more than a little reluctant.

As horrible as it was, Orihime didn't really want Tatsuki to get caught up in the same mess she was in. Tatsuki loved to fight, would have been glad if she could help them, Orihime knew, but she also knew that all Tatsuki would be able to do was sit on the sidelines and watch- or get killed, because she was just an ordinary human able to see spirits and she would be in the way while the others fought. Orihime had actually gotten quite good at dodging around a battle field, shielding those that needed a moment to recover and healing those injured.

Some days, she wished she had had the powers before the attack- she could have saved Ichigo. (another part of her wished she'd always had that power, she could have saved her brother.)

Perhaps that was why she kept going to the clinic to check on the twins, especially Yuzu- she knew what it was like to have the big brother you idolize suddenly absent and no longer there to shelter you. Of course, the twins still had their father, while Orihime had an Aunt and Uncle that she had never been close to.

"Orihime's here, we're going to the store!" Orihime only managed a surprised 'eep' as Yuzu suddenly exited the front door and grabbed her hand. It took about a block before Orihime's mind finally caught up to what had happened and who it was that was practically dragging her down the sidewalk.

"Yuzu-chan, what's wrong?" Orihime finally dug her heels in and got Yuzu to stop and look at her. "Yuzu-chan?" The girl's face was flushed and Orihime realized her eyes were a little red as well. "You can tell me, Yuzu-chan."

"It's stupid, but I just couldn't stay in the house for another minute." Yuzu wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry-"

"No, don't be! Everyone has a bad day once in awhile. It's normal." Orihime passed her a handkerchief. "What do you need to get from the store?" Yuzu blinked up at her in confusion. "When you left, you shouted that we were going to the store- what do you need to get?"

"Oh, I . . . I don't remember." Yuzu blushed. "I've been doing that a lot today."

"Well, if you don't want anything in particular, there's a good bakery just down the street and to the left- they've got fresh mochi and dango everyday."

"That, that sounds really good." Orihime smiled and lead the way.

* * *

Yuzu felt a little better now that she was out of the house and eating something sweet. It seemed kind of silly for her to have rushed out like that, but everything had seemed to go wrong and her dad had been busy in the clinic and Karin had gone out with Toshiro to play soccer at the park. She hadn't felt like talking to Matsumoto, either, and had done something she had done many times before without thinking- she went to her brother's room. The visiting Shinigami were either in the guest room, which was actually a couple of the clinic rooms with cots (the guys) or sharing with her and Karin (Matsumoto and Rukia), mostly out of respect to her older brother.

Her brother had always picked up after himself and made sure that his bed was made, so the room was just as he'd left it- with the exception of the school bag that Chad had found and brought to them a day or two afterwards. It had been placed on his desk-chair, and Yuzu had moved to straighten it. That's when she noticed the stain on one corner. It was a brownish red stain, and at first she thought it had come from mud or something, until she noticed a note on the desk.

_Ichigo, I couldn't get the blood completely off- you could probably pass it off as mud, but I'll help pay if you decide to get a new bag. –Chad._

She had blanked. On top of all the stupid, minor things that had gone wrong, seeing the stain and realizing it was from her brother's blood was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back- for the first time ever, Yuzu understood why Ichigo and Karin preferred to leave the house when they had a bad day. Instead of being a safe shelter, it had become a painful reminder and she had to get out before she did something (she didn't know what, but it would have been something she didn't want witnesses around to see). She didn't even realize she had grabbed Orihime until the older girl had made her stop.

"Thanks, Orihime-nee-chan, I needed this." Orihime turned to look at her with a gentle smile.

"It's not a problem, Yuzu-chan. I'm here to help if you need it." Yuzu returned the smile, and the sun was beginning to dip down into the west before the two began to head back. The next thing they knew, they were surrounded by four men in white- Arrancars.

"What-?" Yuzu squeaked as Orihime quickly grabbed her by her arm and pulled Yuzu to her side, as if to shield her.

"Inoue Orihime, Kurosaki Yuzu?" The man that spoke had no change in expression whatsoever.

"Y-yes?" Yuzu was mildly surprised at how strong Orihime's grip was as the older girl responded.

"Our lord would like to talk with you."

"And if we'd prefer not to talk with him?" Orihime managed, a lot more bravely than she actually felt. She preferred healing to fighting, any day of the week- but they wanted Yuzu, too, and there was no way she was going to let them take her. Kurosaki-san and Karin-chan wouldn't be able to take losing another family member.

"Well, we'd hate to take you by force, but our lord would really like to meet you both . . . it has to do with Kurosaki Ichigo." Yuzu amazingly didn't feel Orihime's nails when the older girl tightened her grip.

"Nii-san?" Yuzu couldn't stop the hope that laced into her voice. "He's okay?"

"Given a loose definition of the word." Muttered one of the men, but Yuzu didn't pay attention. Her brother's soul- it had been missing and everyone had been doing their best to find it in their spare time . . . her brother was still existing, still trying to get back . . . hope flooded her, and if it hadn't been for Orihime's grip, she would have begged them to take her.

"Our lord will let you visit your brother if you would both come with us now." It took all of Orihime's will power to keep from agreeing right away- a chance to see Ichigo again, a chance to apologize for what happened- and focusing on the fact that they weren't that far from the Kurosaki Clinic and yet no one had come running when they sensed arrancar, except-

"You're arrancar, why didn't I sense you?" – she hadn't sensed them until they had surrounded them.

"There are ways to hide reiatsu without sealing it, Inoue-san. The shinigami will never know we were here. Now, will you come with us? Kurosaki Ichigo is in need of your healing abilities, and I imagine he would be very glad to see you both." The men behind them moved closer, and Orihime glanced down at Yuzu. She couldn't fight and shield at the same time, one of them could grab Yuzu even if the younger girl ran. They would be taken by force, despite the green-eyed arrancar's words to the contrary, if they didn't go willingly. Help wouldn't come until it was too late.

"Stay close to me, Yuzu-chan, I'm sorry." Yuzu nodded, moving closer to the older girl even as Orihime released her grip on the younger girl's arm. "Very well, we'll go with you." _I'm so sorry, everyone, but I can't fight and hope to protect Yuzu-chan, please forgive me._ Yuzu grabbed Orihime's hand, not really caring how childish it might make her look, not wanting to get separated from the older girl.

* * *

Renji and Isshin both raced to the spot where they had felt the garganta form, only to find an empty side walk and no trace of Orihime or Yuzu's reiatsu.

"Dammit, what do we do now?" Renji looked at Isshin, who had gone pale with fury.

"Call everyone, we're meeting at Urahara's in ten minutes." Isshin felt cold- the last time he had felt this much anger was when he realized that it was a hollow that had killed his wife and tried to kill his son- and that the damn thing got away. "I don't care who I have to go through, I'm getting my daughter back." For the first time, Renji felt the pulse of barely controlled reiatsu from Isshin and understood why the man in front of him had made it to be Captain. And quite honestly, he was glad he was the man's ally.

**I honestly don't know why people feel the need to bash Orihime's character- it's painfully obvious to me that she's a healer, not a fighter, and can you honestly blame her for living partially in her own world after carrying her brother to a clinic only to see him die?**

**Note: In manga, Aizen claims that it was from being near the Hogyoko that both Chad and Orihime received their powers, but a lot of people, even in the manga, claim it was being in contact with Ichigo's high reiatsu that changed them. (I should've put this note earlier, when Ikkaku and Chad were talking, but oh well.) Me, I'm going with Ichigo, mostly because it was mentioned a lot that his reiatsu leaked everywhere, even before he gained shinigami powers.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Bleach.**

Shattered Plans IV

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at the large gathering of people in Urahara's underground training area. With Aizen's treachery finally in the open, the sotaicho had temporarily suspended hers and Urahara's exile status and turned a blind eye to revelation of Isshin's whereabouts for the last twenty years. Which meant that she had turned into a messenger of sorts, checking on the Seireitei and delivering messages.

Aizen really did them all a huge favor by killing off the Central 46- not that she was going to thank him for it- because they never would have united otherwise. Though her surprise really came from the arrival of the Vizards, whom she had thought would avoid helping the seireitei at all costs.

"Kisuke, could you look after Karin while-"

"No way!" Karin had been sitting off to the side, but the realization that she was going to get stuck in this shop with an immature jerk and a disgustingly sweet person brought her to her feet. "You're not hiding me away- those hollow-bastards already took my brother and now another group took my sister! I'm going too!"

"Karin, you can't fight," Hitsugaya began and Yoruichi winced. Not the right thing to say at that moment.

"The hell I can't! I don't care if I have to use a kitchen knife, I am not going to sit around twiddling my thumbs while the rest of my family is fighting to survive in another world!" Karin snapped at him and then glared at her father. "I'm your _daughter_, idiot, you really think any Kurosaki would just lie around, waiting?" From where she was standing, Yoruichi could see Urahara duck his head and open his fan to hide the smile that was crossing his face. A similar smile, but more feral, was probably crossing her own face. She was impressed by the girl's words.

She wasn't the only one.

"How ya planning on fighting, then?" Hiyori ignored everyone else and got in between Isshin and Karin. They all knew that Isshin had already lost the fight to protect Karin when her sister got taken, and now the dark haired twin was raging like a mother bear who had lost her cub. "Ya haven't got powers, though I'm sure you're a pretty good fighter when it's against humans. How are ya going to fight?"

"Anyway possible." Hiyori noted that there's an old soul hidden in Karin's eyes- the girl in front of her had probably been reincarnated a couple of times- and pulled out her zanpakuto.

"I'm not going to bother asking something foolish like would ya die for them, but if I give ya the power to fight, what will ya do?"

"Get my family back. What do I have to do?" Hiyori smirked. She was an exile, which meant that she was no longer under the Sotaicho or the Central 46 as long as she was in the human world. It meant that rules that bound other Shinigami didn't bind her at all. She could give her power away- not that she would do it willy-nilly, but they couldn't try her for treason when she was no longer under their rules, now, could they?

"Stab my blade into yer heart, Kurosaki Karin." The main reason why it was against the law to give a living soul the power of the shinigami was because living souls had no limits- they grew and adapted rapidly, the small fraction of shinigami power given to them would grow exponentially. If the living soul that received the power was left unchecked, then they could be driven mad by that power. 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely'. Karin had latent shinigami powers from her father, she would become a shinigami when she died, but there was no time to wait for that.

Hiyori pulled her power and pushed it into her Zanpakuto. She liked this girl's spunk, she could see a glimmer of herself reflected in the girl's eyes. So Hiyori did something that was quite possibly foolish- she took a part of her soul that was a combination of herself and her zanpakuto, and when Karin didn't hesitate to pull the blade into her heart, Hiyori let her power and that chunk of soul transfer into the human.

She'd been the lieutenant of the 12th for a reason after all.

Everything happened in a blink to the people watching, but to Karin, it took several moments as she felt her body fall away and the knowledge that the physical limits of her mortal body didn't really bind her anymore. Then suddenly there was another presence, this one pulsing in her heart, speaking.

'_What do you want me to be?'_

An odd question, but Karin somehow knew the answer- _'A nurturer',_ images of Yuzu's concern for her health and school work flashed through her mind, _'A protector',_ images of her brother scaring off some boys that had tried to pick on her when she was younger, a hug from her brother that was warm and enveloping that made her safe.

'_Okay, I can be that.'_

Karin opened her eyes, and stared at the sword that had appeared in her hand. The handle was brown wrapped in orange- both colors resembling her siblings' hair. The _tsuba_ was a pale sort of gold, and actually reminded her of Hiyori's hair. The sword itself was a _wakizashi_, meant for defense and indoor fighting- perfect.

Hiyori smirked, even as her Zanpakuto chided her.

'_That was not nessecary, Hiyori.'_

Hiyori rolled her eyes. It had been nessecary, because there was no guarantee that Karin would be able to keep herself in check- Hiyori had almost lost herself once because of power, would have if she hadn't had her Zanpakuto and the others to keep her sane, and Karin was like her in that she needed someone right there to keep her from making terrible mistakes. That person was usually her sister, but with her twin missing Karin was angry and more prone to recklessness.

Hiyori would have been the same if she had a younger sister that was there for her. As it was, she'd kill anyone that dare hurt the other Vizards.

"Better?" Hiyori got Karin's attention, and the (much) younger girl grinned darkly.

"Much. Thank you."

Yoruichi smiled, noting that Isshin was torn between pride and sorrow, but reluctantly moved forward, gaining everyone's attention. She really hated to be the bearer of bad news, but things were going to become worse not better before long, and they all had to just accept that and carry on.

"I'm afraid I've got more bad news- as we speak, the Seireitei is being overrun with hollows." Yourichi could see everyone tense at that, as more than one person paled at the thought of the carnage that must be being wrought.

"Which means that the living world won't be far behind." Shinji murmured, glancing at Hitsugaya who looked torn.

Karin gripped her new sword tightly, praying that her sister was alright.

**Murphy's law- No matter how badly everything is going, it can always get worse.**

**What Hiyori has done: basically, she split part of the part of her soul that was bound to her Zanpakuto and gave it to Karin to act as a template for her sword. Karin's sword will be part of her soul, but its core will be that part of Hiyori and Hiyori's zanpakuto, so Karin's soul won't split. This will act as a check to keep Karin from gaining power as rapidly as Ichigo does in the series- her power is to defend herself (and anyone else) until help arrives, not take down enemies.**

**Why Hiyori? Because I'm pretty convinced the two of them would have gotten along if they had met- even if it was only to beat up Shinji or Isshin.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Bleach**

Shattered Plans V

To say the Seireitei was being overrun was an accurate statement. All Divisions and squads had been sent out, and the fourth division had taken every shinigami and student who was even remotely competent at healing kido. Half of the fourth division's barracks had turned into rooms for wounded- and perhaps a fourth was set aside for the dying.

"Damn it, they just keep coming." Yumichika wholeheartedly agreed with the shinigami who had spoken, but didn't say anything as he dodged away. Buildings were in ruins, the sky had turned a horrible, sickening black, and the hollows were coming from everywhere.

Not for the first time, did he wish his actual Shikai was a little more useful when fighting large amounts of opponents.

To his right, Hinamori Momo was recklessly fighting. The 5th division lieutenant had been devastated by the betrayal of her captain, and there was no doubt in his mind that Hinamori was looking to get killed- and probably would have been already, if Izuru Kira and Hisagi Shuuei hadn't been watching her back.

Several hollows later, he saw her go down, Kira and Hisagi locked in their own battles and unable to help. Yumichika cried out, but both his partial and real shikai would be useless-

'_No one ever said I just had that one ability, Yumichika.'_ His zanpakuto glowed green, and the familiar vines of energy flowed out. This time though, he wielded it like a giant flail, taking out four enemies at once and in particular the hollow that was about to eat Hinamori. He lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

* * *

Hinamori had been devastated at Aizen's betrayal. The man had been like a father-figure to her, and the realization that every kind smile, every time he looked at her with pride- all of it had been an illusion had been earth shattering.

She had loved him, would have and had done anything he asked, and he simply cut her down without a second look. She would have loved to have believed he had been tricked or hypnotized- but no two zanpakutos were the exact same, and so there wouldn't be a zanpakuto that would hypnotize him.

She had happily thrown herself into the battle, hoping to take out as many hollows as possible before she was taken out herself, and had been single mindedly set on that goal.

Until a hollow had grabbed her and she was saved by a green aurora. Looking into the face of her rescuer, she was startled to see that it was Yumichika, and that he had a small smile directed towards her.

"Close call, Hinamori-fukutaicho, are you alright?"

"Yeah . . ."

"Good, then shall we continue the fight?"

"Aysegawa, is Hinamori alright?" Momo blinked in surprise as Hisagi and Kira landed nearby, ready to defend the two, but still looking over at her in concern.

"Yeah, just a little stunned, I think." Yumichika set her on her feet and she felt shaky.

"You guys . . . You've been there this whole time, haven't you?" Whether or not she meant the fight, she didn't know.

"Of course, we've got to stick together to survive, don't we?" Kira smiled, and Momo could only nod. She had forgotten . . . she wasn't alone.

"Ano, Asyegawa . . ."

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"You're shikai is really beautiful." Yumichika beamed at the compliment, and they all jumped as they felt an enormous surge of reiatsu-

"Ah, Zaraki-taicho!" – just moments before the 11th division captain came thundering past, obliterating every hollow in his way, his fukutaicho shrieking with laughter from her spot on his shoulder.

"He's enjoying this, isn't he?" Kira asked no one in particular.

"You people in the 11th are insane, you know that right?" Hisagi looked at Yumichika, who just smiled.

"But they have the best parties." Hinamori giggled.

"We're going to need a real good one after this." Yumichika commented as he once again powered up his shikai.

"Ninth gets to bring food- Third'll get the sake." Kira volunteered, ignoring Hisagi's look of annoyance, and the four began fighting anew. "What'll fifth bring?"

"Music." Hinamori decided. It was a strange thing to talk about on a battle field, but it was looking forward instead of behind- it didn't matter whether or not Aizen had loved her, what mattered was that there were people who still wanted her that weren't an illusion, and were watching her back.

The four continued to fight together, focusing on surviving and making sure others survived as well.

**This ended up being pretty short . . . And did I spell Yumichika's name right? It's been a while since I actually looked at the spelling . . . **

**Yumichika's shikai- seriously, the odds that it can only drain reiatsu is pretty limited- I kind of like the idea that the vines turn it into a flail . . .**

**I'm not going to have the characters call out attack names- at this point, they're in war, and even weaker versions of their attacks are enough to take down hollow, it's better if they conserve energy. (That, and it gets a little repetitive typing the same things over and over)**


	11. Chapter 11: The real Chapter 10

**Note: It was pointed out to me that Yumichika last chapter was OOC. When I first wrote this story a year ago, I honestly wasn't aware of the 'no kido' rule in the 11th division, and didn't quite understand. **

**Half the reason the last chapter was so short was because I was debating whether or not to post it at all. I decided to post it because of a new Bleach fic I'm currently writing, (and won't post until it's complete), and wanted to use this fic as a measuring stick. **

**Don't own Bleach**

Shattered Chains I

Muramasa stared at the river, not too far away was a play park and behind him was a simple two story building with a sign reading Kurosaki Clinic. "They want your reiatsu."

"I know." He looked down at his weilder, who was lying on the grassy bank, brown eyes contemplating the glass sky.

"You cannot just give it away, Ichigo, that power is yours, and your responsibility." Muramasa pressed, and almost wanted to strangle his wielder as he continued to stare at the sky. "Ichigo-!"

"I know, Muramasa. I'm working on it." Brown eyes finally turned to met turquoise. "The way I see it, I've got to hide it- I can't hide it in myself, because the instant I hit rock bottom it'll just spring up to protect me, and end up getting me in trouble instead. Can't hide it in the real world, either." Muramasa sighed and sat down pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

"They're hurting you even more- its unecessary." Why couldn't Ichigo have been just a little more selfish? A little more concerned for his own welfare?

"That's because they want to hear me scream. I kinda pissed one of them off the other day." Muramasa turned an incredulous gaze on his wielder, who met it with a raised eyebrow. "What? I just told him his voice was annoying me." With a great many curse words, Muramasa was sure. As long as his wielder was in that horrid- machine, for lack of better word- Muramasa could not see or feel what was happening, he just knew Ichigo was in pain from the dark clouds and rumbling thunder that echoed through the many skyscrapers that acted as fortress walls, protecting his innermost core.

"Do you _not_ have any form of self-preservation? I thought we've been over this?" Muramasa chose to bury his face in his knees- a childish move, but one that kept him from looking at his wielder and helped take away from the temptation of strangling Ichigo.

"I do have a sense of self-preservation, Muramasa, that's why I'm hiding my power in you." Muramasa blinked, and looked at the hand that now rested on his shoulder. Ichigo's hands were always warm, as was his smile when he wanted to prove a point. "If you had not interrupted me, I would have had the chance to explain. With enough power, you should be able to manifest yourself." Ichigo hesitated. "You'd be able to be my eyes- there's only so much I can do with my other senses . . ."

"If it'll help, then yes, I'll do it." Muramasa promised. "You can trust me."

"I know." Ichigo looked around. "At least I can see this place, I probably would've gone insane if I couldn't." There wasn't much to the power transfer, though Muramasa almost choked as he received most of it. It would mostly go to strengthening the core of the physical sword, and make it impossible to break. Though whether or not his wielder knew that was debatable.

Then again, even without his sight, Ichigo was able to perceive things others didn't. As Ichigo release his shoulder and stepped away, Muramasa saw his eyes flick to the playground.

"I'm sure they're alright, Ichigo, you kept them from getting killed." Ichigo gave a slight nod, and sighed.

"I have to wake up now." Muramasa followed, though he was now only able to see and hear everything in better detail, it was much better than nothing.

'_I think I liked our cave more.'_ Muramasa earned a dry chuckle from Ichigo, but it quickly turned into a cough. Ichigo's physical body was still lean and muscular, but it was covered with dark bruises, especially across his chest. _'You didn't say it was this bad!'_ Ichigo was saved from answering by the opening of the cell door, instead using the moment to sit up, despite the bruises.

"Kurosaki, Aizen-sama has allowed you guests." Muramasa recognized the figures behind the arrancar, even though he had never met them, he had seen them multiple times in his wielder's memory.

"Nii-san!" Yuzu rushed to her brother's arms, and Muramasa confirmed it was real, though his wielder's arms still wrapped around her even before he had finished.

"Yuzu . . . how?"

"You've got fifteen minutes." The arrancar left and closed the door with a click.

"Hold still, Kurosaki-kun, I have to heal you." Muramasa watched in amazement as the girl, Orihime, healed his wielder's wounds so that they were gone.

"Who-?"

"It's Orihime Inoue-chan, Nii-san, you know her- what's wrong with your eyes?" Yuzu's hand touched her brother's cheek. "Nii-san?"

"I'm blind Yuzu. Price for getting too cocky." Muramasa shook his head, that was sugarcoating it way too much. Yuzu rested her head against her brother's chest- more than likely listening to the beat of his heart.

"I might be able to heal it . . ." Orihime tried, as Yuzu filled Ichigo on everything that had happened to her while he was gone. "Oh!" Orihime stopped as blood started to come from his eyes. "I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, it happens, Inoue-chan."

"Um, Kurosaki-kun, could you call me by my name?" Muramasa blinked as the girl blushed, did this girl like his wielder? He'd never mentioned it.

"Only if you call me by mine, Orihime." Probably because he hadn't noticed it, Muramasa quickly decided, and it didn't help that Ichigo couldn't see right then. "How are Chad and Ishida doing?"

"Um, they're really worried about you . . . Sado-kun really regrets not being able to protect your back."

"He comes around to check on us, he even walks us to school in the morning." Yuzu supplied. Realizing that his wielder probably would like some time alone, Muramasa retreated back into the inner world.

* * *

Coyote Starrk scowled as he and Ulquiorra reached the cell holding Kurosaki. He didn't like this tactic, it was pointless and they already had Kurosaki imprisoned and cut off from his reiatsu.

"Time's up, Kurosaki. Inoue-san, Kurosaki-chan, if you'd come with me?" Starrk watched as Kurosaki's sister kissed his cheek and Inoue promised they'd see him again. He stayed silent as Ulquiorra left with the two.

"Why?" He returned his gaze to Kurosaki, and was momentarily glad the man's sightless eyes couldn't stare straight into his. The intensity that filled the other's being was more than enough.

"Aizen-sama wished to have a healer, and Inoue-san is a good one. I imagine that Kurosaki-chan is meant to be her assistant . . . and insurance."

"Against my escaping?" There was a cold and almost apathetic fury in the young man's voice. "I was already trapped in Hueco Mundo, Aizen already took my sword, with all that, _he still thought I would escape?_" Starrk wasn't sure what Kurosaki was implying, but that statement made him uneasy. Then again, the whole situation made him uneasy.

"Believe it or not, I don't like this tactic of Aizen-sama's anymore than you. I find it rather pointless as well. There are three others that agree with me, and will protect them from the other espada if nessecary." Grimmjow and Nnoitora, in particular, although it was doubtful that the Sexta would even care about hurting them- he hated weak opponents, while the Quinta hated women, for some reason.

"You'd better. I find out they've been hurt, _Hell itself_ won't be able to stop me from killing the one who does it."

"Understood." Starrk swallowed and slipped out the door, closing and locking it behind him. It was foolish to be frightened of someone with a reiatsu-supressing collar, but he could still remember crossing swords with the man when he was first brought in- spirit energy or none, he was still a dangerous opponent.

Lilynette Gingerbuck, his other half, jumped over to his side. Tunning out her questions, he studied her. For good or ill none of the arrancars could actually remember their previous lives, yet when Aizen created him, Lilynette had been created at the same time. 'A split soul' Aizen had muttered. Starrk had never questioned it, but more than once he had found himself wondering who they had been before. Afterall, an arrancar's power came from eating other hollows, other souls, so they might have been seperate souls combined. Had they been father and daughter? Had they been brother and sister? Or, and he'd be slightly worried about his former self if it was true, had they been lovers? (He kept reassuring himself that in some cultures, once the girl started having a monthly cycle, no matter her age, she was eligible for marriage and it wasn't unusual for young girls to marry older men if that was the case- it had rarely helped.)

Whatever their relationship in life, it didn't change the fact that he actually cared for her now. She was the other half of his power.

Out of idle curiosity, he closed his eyes and put a hand on her head. She stilled for a moment, confused, before batting his hand away and stepping back. Reflexively he opened his eyes to look at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." As they headed to their quarters, Starrk thought back on his reflex- the instant Lilynette had moved out of his touch he had opened his eyes. A slight stirring of what might have been sympathy for Kurosaki stirred in his gut. The young man was blind, having his eyes open or closed wouldn't change it- so what had it been like, to hold his sister in his arms, only to have to sit in place as she left his sense of touch, and not know how she looked?

Starrk quickly resolved to take a nap and get his mind off this train of thought, it was starting to make him queasy.

**Phew, this was actually a difficult chapter to write.**

**A note on child and adult marriages- it's actually true, throughout history, once a girl started her monthly cycle, she was eligible for marriage. Men, on the other hand, became eligible for marriage once they had an income of their own, which means they could even be in their mid thirties before they decided to settle down and get married. Today, I think sixteen is the youngest age most girls could get married, with 18 being the age for boys- however, I do know that in some cultures, girls that start puberty are eligible to be engaged or courted. **

**Anyone read the Series of Unfortunate Events? Or even see the movie? Violet's 14, but with the consent of her legal guardian, she can get married- which is actually true in parts of the U.S. and I think in Europe as well (not sure about that).**

**Bottom Line- As strange as it is to think about for most people in the US, it's an entirely plausible thing for Starrk to think, especially since we don't know how long they've been in Hueco Mundo.**

**To recap, in case I lost some one: Lilynette is the result of Starrk splitting his soul to keep his power low, but given that a hollow's power comes from eating souls, it's possible that Lilynette is one of the souls that he previously ate. (or he's one of the souls that she ate, but that just gets confusing.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.**

Shattered Chains II

Soifon woke up with a soft groan, her body really didn't like sleeping while sitting against hard stone. A soft cough drew her attention to her cellmate. "Gin?"

"Yes?" But the fox-like shinigami began coughing even harder. Soifon was now alarmed, but the chains holding her didn't reach far enough to help. Finally, the coughing stopped. "Damn . . ." he panted.

"You're sick." Soifon knew that was pointing out the obvious, but if he really was sick, then how long did she have before she caught it? Aizen had all but ignored them, sending a fraccione once a day with food for the both of them- apparently he didn't think them worth the effort to kill, though slow starvation seemed to be a possibility.

Neither of them knew anything about what was happening in the world outside their cell, and not talking to each other had given them too much time to think, so they had reluctantly started to talk. Soifon would never call him a friend, but being locked in a cell with someone for several days erased some boundaries.

"Probably." Gin sighed and leaned back- only to start coughing again. This time Soifon's eyes widened as she saw drops of blood on his hand.

The door to the cell opened, and Soifon turned toward it in confusion- it was too soon for food, unless Aizen had decided to visit.

In stepped an Arrancar with bone on his head and green tear tracks under his large green eyes.

"Hello, Ulquiorra, what's up?" Gin smiled and Soifon looked at him in exasperation. The Arrancar didn't answer, and instead stepped aside to admit a rather pretty teenage girl with hair clips followed by a younger girl whose eyes were filled with concern the instant they looked at Soifon.

"Hold still, okay?" Soifon tensed as the older girl held out her hands, her hairclips glowing gold before a golden energy surrounded Gin. Gin actually opened his eyes to look at her.

"Who are ya, you're not an arrancar." Ulquiorra answered before the girl could.

"Inoue-san and Kurosaki-chan are working for Aizen-sama as healers." Soifon didn't miss how the girls tensed as he spoke, realizing that they weren't working for Aizen out of their own free will.

"Kurosaki?" Gin focused on the smaller girl as Inoue finished and stood. "Didn't think any of Isshin's kids would listen to anything Aizen said."

" . . . He's got my brother, Ichimaru-san." Yuzu gave him a small, sad smile. "I'm just here for insurance." Both of the cell's occupants knew exactly what that meant- she was here to make sure her brother didn't escape.

"If you are finished, Inoue-san."

"Ah, right, c'mon, Yuzu-chan." Yuzu hesitated a minute, but followed.

"Bastard, she's just a kid." Gin seethed. Soifon stared at him, unsure of what to say- She didn't know why Gin hated Aizen, (they hadn't really talked about that) but he knew it had something to do with the 10th division lieutenant, and it had happened long before they had become shinigami. From the way he acted . . . Gin would never give her a straight answer, and she didn't want to pry into a sensitive subject.

It was probably best left alone after all.

* * *

Ulquiorra was silent as he walked the two humans back to his quarters. He didn't understand why Aizen-sama had brought them both to Hueco Mundo now instead of before, why he kept the captains of the Third and Second divisions alive and untouched. All he did know was that Kurosaki Ichigo was a dangerous force, and even caged as he was, there was always a chance that a simple slip would have him escaping Aizen-sama's hold.

The Older girl was strange, She smiled even when he could feel her reiatsu pulse with worry and fear. She was warm and caring, even offering to heal him when he returned from a spar with one of the others with a small cut on his shoulder. (It would have healed on its own.)

The younger girl, on the other hand, had no problem showing her confusion, fear or any other emotion that her reiatsu pulsed with- more than once that meant Ulquiorra had to fight off another arrancar that wanted to play with the younger girl. A flash of reiatsu, and the next corner had Grimmjow leaning against the wall, one arm mangled and bloody. Yuzu squeaked, and Ulquiorra ignored how she shifted closer to him as Inoue moved forward to heal him.

"What have you done this time?" Grimmjow's head snapped up, revealing blood and bone that _wasn't_ supposed to be seen. The former panther hollow growled, but didn't move as Inoue healed him. "Jaegerjaquez."

"Damn Shinigami . . ." the Sexta wiped the blood off. He stood, not saying anything to Inoue, but his attention was caught by the slight shift of the youngest Kurosaki sibling. "You're Kurosaki's little sister, aren't ya?" Ulquiorra shifted, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Hai . . ." Yuzu shifted again.

"How good of a fighter is your brother?" Ulquiorra blinked. Grimmjow had moved so he was closer to the girl, but he was completely non-threatening, crouching down to be at her eye level. His eyes still contained blood-lust, though it was temporarily banked by curiosity.

"He's one of the best in Karakura, he fought of entire gangs either on his own or with Yasutora-kun. I don't know how good he is right now though, I only know how he fights against humans." Yuzu responded. Ulquiorra frowned as Grimmjow reached out and rubbed a thumb over the young girl's jaw. "Nani?"

"He'd do anything to protect you, wouldn't he?" Ulquiorra stopped Inoue from interfereing, mildly curious as to what Grimmjow was doing. The blue-haired arrancar was acting strange, but non-threatening.

"He promised us he'd always look out for us- my sister and me." The girl was clearly unnerved by Grimmjow's stare and touch, but didn't back down. "Why are you asking?"

"Cause Aizen-sama is going to let me fight him. He won't let me near Kurosaki yet, though, so I figured you'd have some information I could use." Ulquiorra blinked again- for one minute, Grimmjow didn't look as feral as he normally did- in fact, his usual growl was more like a purr.

"Jaegerjaquez." The teal haired man look up, and the moment was gone. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Tch." The man stood and began to walk away.

"Nice meeting you, Jaegerjacquez-san!" Ulquiorra blinked as the other stopped and looked back, a feral grin crossing his face.

"Nice meeting you too, Kurosaki-chibi." Ulquiorra shook his head as the other disappeared. He did not know what to make of the unusual behavior exhibited by the Sexta, especially the gentleness showed in the interaction. It appeared the Sexta might have hidden depths beyond blood-lust after all. He would have to inform Aizen-sama of this strange development when he had the first opportunity.

**Phew! This was tough- Ulquiorra is not the easiest character to write, with his lack of expression and loyalty to Aizen . . . Next chapter goes back to Karakura and Seireitei.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Don't own Bleach. **

Shattered Chains III

They would have to split up. Love Aikawa, former captain of the 7th sighed as he leaned back, one group would stay in Karakura, one would go to Hueco Mundo and the third would return to the Seireitei to help. Or, as the case may be, the group that went to Hueco Mundo would then go to the Seireitei, as the last thing they needed was arrancar following to Karakura and making a mess.

"Well, I have no interest in going to the seireitei again, not after what they did." Love glanced at the former 3rd division captain, Rojuro 'Rose' Otoribashi. "Choosing such a liar over us . . ."

"Matsumoto and I will head back." Hitsugaya spoke first, before any of the other Vizard could agree or disagree with Rose. "Abarai-"

"I'm going with Isshin-san to get back Yuzu-chan." The red-headed pineapple (Abarai) automatically volunteered, followed quickly by the cue-ball Madarame.

"I'll go to Hueco Mundo too, Karin can be my partner." The Kuchiki (since when did Byakuya have a sister, anyway?) volunteered.

"Alright, you'll need an Onmitsukido operative to help get into Los Noches, so I'll go with you." Yoruichi grinned, and Love absently wondered if this was what she considered 'fun'- he'd heard she'd been going in and out of the seireitei for a long time before the war, the former second division captain knowing all the obscure entrances that even the soutaicho was unaware of.

"Sado and I wish to go to Hueco Mundo as well, Inoue-chan is our friend, and we owe it to Kurosaki to look after his family." The quincy- who had even less of a reason than the Vizards to help the shinigami in Love's opinion- also volunteered, the big stoic Mexican giving a thumbs-up in agreement.

"That's eight. Any Vizards want a potential shot at killing Tousen or Aizen? Apparently Ichimaru only joined Aizen to learn his weakness and to kill him, though why he didn't tell anyone that bit is beyond me." Yoruichi cheerfully offered, before muttering the last.

"He wanted to get back something Aizen took from me when we were younger." Matsumoto responded, arms crossing and glancing away. "The idiot, he always went off without telling me where he was going . . ." Love tilted his head, focusing on her expression as the others continued to talk. Just because he was laid back and preferred to get fights over and done with, didn't mean he couldn't take the time to think about things that were unsaid. The busty lieutenant's face was sad and hurt, and the way she held herself had been defensive, shying away from scruitiny. Whatever Aizen had done, it had probably been a lot worse than attempting to turn the former captains and lieutenants into hollows.

Something stolen . . . that could be a great many things, an object that was sentimental, innocence of a child- though not many children in the Rukongai could claim to have that, they all grew up as fast as they could when the alternative was to get killed, and saw things that no child should ever see. Honor was another possibility- the woman in question was beautiful now, but that beauty had probably been with her even as a young adult in the rukongai. Love stopped that train of thought, because it made him even more angry at Aizen than he already was.

Though a small part of him really had to wonder just how much Gin Ichimaru had sacrificed to get close to Aizen just to find a way to kill him- and why it took so long, on that note.

"Wait, how do you know that?" Love glanced at Shinji, who had suddenly refocused on Yoruichi. It took a moment for Love to remember that Ichimaru had been Shinji's third seat back when the other had been captain of the 5th.

"Ichimaru was passing information to the soutaicho. Unfortunately, it appears he was caught by Aizen- there's no news on his fate. Onmitsukido operatives were unable to get far into Los Noches without being detected, and the current second division captain went missing when she attempted it." A wince went through the people gathered- missing in action was a polite way of saying 'more than likely captured or dead, leaning towards the latter'. Especially with the second division being more likely to kill themselves then let Aizen try and get any information out of them.

"Then I'd like to go, I owe Aizen." Shinji offered, ignoring the surprised looks from the other vizards.

"I'd like to go- I want to see how Karin does." Hiyori volunteered as well- that wasn't as surprising, given that Hiyori loved a good fight and had just given Karin a jumpstart on her own Shinigami powers.

"You sure about that, Shinji?" Lisa Yadomaru had placed a bookmark in her newest book- Love couldn't see the title, or remember when she had gotten the book for that matter.

"I promoted Gin to third seat, pretty much straight from the academy. I'd like to find out what happened to him." That was all the got from him.

"Very well, then, I'll monitor the situation here- shall I assume that the Vizards will stay here to protect Karakura?" Urahara was idly playing with the fan he was holding, but Love saw a slight flicker of concern as he glanced at where Karin's body lay- it was only for an instant, but it piqued Love's interest.

"Yeah, we will." Kensei Muguruma muttered, even as his former lieutenant (and on again off again lover) cheerfully saluted the others. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto left after that, and Karin's body and Isshin's Gigai had to be moved. Love volunteered, following Urahara who was going to check on the construction blue prints and specs for the garganta into Hueco Mundo while everyone else practiced.

It gave him a chance to confront the other without witnesses.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm, what makes you think something is wrong?" Urahara's attempt to brush it off fell flat as Love's look. "Karin has a strong reiatsu- though not as strong as her older brother's." Urahara gently covered up the girl's body. "However, I'm not sure if her being a temporary shinigami was a wise decision, especially if Aizen has her sister."

"You think he planned or hoped for both Karin-chan and Isshin to follow, don't you." It wasn't a question, and Urahara removed his hat to run a hand through his hair.

"Yes. Isshin's son Ichigo's soul was taken to Hueco Mundo, Aizen's own threat against the Kurosaki family, and now Yuzu's kidnapping, along with Inoue's . . . Aizen never does anything without a reason."

"Kurosaki-kun's soul has been Hueco Mundo for almost seven months from what I understand, Kisuke. You and I both know that the odds are slim he didn't become a hollow, even if you've gotten his heart to keep beating and his brain to keep functioning." Love pointed out, and saw the other man wince. "It's Isshin, huh?"

"He almost lost Ichigo once, but Masaki died instead." Love nodded, remembering the sweet woman that had been unable to see them out of a gigai, but still willing to let them crash when the first place they had stayed had been torn down. Isshin had been devastated at her death, and the vizards had spent a few days hoping to track down the hollow that had done it. "The fact that there is still a connection between the soul and body- jumps in brain activity, fluctuations in his pulse- means that there's still hope that Ichigo will be able to return and will not become a hollow."

"It's a thin hope, we almost didn't make it, and we knew how to fight hollow."

"It's all he's got, Love. He can rescue Yuzu since Aizen took her body as well, he can protect Karin and I'll make sure her body doesn't deteriorate, but there's nothing he can actually do for his son. That hope is the only thing he's got."

And it was a slim hope at that. But Love just nodded, and left Urahara to his own devices.

**Nothing to actually say . . . just please leave a review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Don't own Bleach**

Shattered Chains IV

Kaname Tosen approached the cell holding Kurosaki Ichigo, Wonderweis currently with Aizen. He halted outside the door for a moment.

He had been blind for as long as he could remember. He might have been able to see when he was living, but the fact remained that at some point when he was in the rukongai, he had lost his sight, and all memory of being able to see.

It had been frightening, hearing screams of pain and moans of the sick or dying, not knowing what was happening or if the cup he had was actually full or water or some other liquid that he had to drink simply because there was nothing else to quench his thirst.

He barely remembered how he got into the Shinigami academy, or how he had to learn to sense reiatsu, or using that same sense to learn how to write- slowly and almost painfully, as he had to have someone else guide his hand to learn the shapes of the kanji.

It had been an uphill battle, full of successes and setbacks, but one thing had always remained the same.

"_What is it like to be blind?"_

"_The sun is bright today, Tosen!"_

"_I swear, the porridge always looks like dirt!"_

"_What a lovely blue sky."_

"_My god, doesn't she know that eyeliner clashes with her eye color?"_

He was alone, separated by everyone else by a thick veil of darkness that no one understood. He was the only blind active shinigami, shinigami that became blind on missions usually retired. And _no one_ seemed to understand the difficulty that came with trying to understand a strange world that had something called 'color'. Where was the justice in that?

Perhaps that was why he'd been trying to find a chance to talk with the blind warrior the arrancar had captured on Aizen's orders.

He entered, and listened as Kurosaki shifted, a clink of chain and a rustle of fabric against fabric telling him that the other had sat up, probably to face him.

"Who are you?" He had a nice voice, slightly hoarse from lack of use, but it didn't have any sort of anger or defiance . . . in fact Kurosaki sounded bored, more than anything.

"I'm Kaname Tosen, former captain of the 9th division of the Gotei 13. I suppose you could say I'm Aizen's second in command." Tosen listened to the other's soft breathing, and then the soft sigh that followed.

"And that is supposed to mean something to me?" There was a hint of sarcasm in the bored tone. Tosen frowned briefly at the apparent disrespect- before reminding himself that Kurosaki was not fully aware of his situation- he'd been in Hueco Mundo since before they left the Seireitei.

"Hardly, I was just curious . . . you are blind, aren't you?" The girl had been here to heal him- she might have healed his eyes, he should've checked that first. An annoyed huff of breath from the other made him focus.

"Yes, I am." Now there was annoyance and a loss of boredom in the other's voice- he wondered if Kurosaki was frowning. "Going to make a game of it?" It was Tosen's turn to frown.

"Has someone done that?" Aizen's orders were not to torture the boy when he wasn't being used, if someone had defied those orders . . .

"Only on the way to that lab." And that journey was always under Aizen's own supervision, so Tosen dropped the idea immediately. "So what do you want?"

" . . . What's it like to see?" The question left Tosen's mouth before he could phrase it better. There was a moment of silence, and Tosen heard the other shift, the soft clink of the chains against the cot- Kurosaki had stood up.

"You as well?" It was a strange question, but Tosen understood- Kurosaki still had to make sure he wasn't going to be tricked somehow.

"Yes."

"For how long?"

"I don't remember ever being able to see." There was silence for a moment, and Tosen listened to the soft breaths of the other.

"How to describe . . . you're not alone, for one thing. There's nothing you can't grasp with your other senses that you can't see as well- sometimes you understand quicker because of it." Kurosaki was silent for a moment, a creak of the cot indicating he had sat down again. "It's a sense of freedom that you don't even realize. It's . . . hard to describe."

That was what Tosen had wanted to hear. He didn't care to know what 'color' was, he had no reference, and even the attempt Komamura made to describe white as the opposite of black had left him confused and doubtful. (All he knew was darkness, he could not imagine what the opposite could be.)

Absently, he reached out to touch the other's face, trying to give more shape to the reiatsu outline that Tosen could sense. He felt Kurosaki stiffen, but as the other didn't move away Tosen continued to study the shape of his features. The hair was in need of a cut, or at least a better brushing, he could feel the start of a couple mats in the shaggy hair. Kurosaki had nothing covering his eyes, and Tosen could feel the scar tissue that might have appeared faded to others but was still different than the rest of the skin that surrounded them.

With a soft clink, Kurosaki reached out and touched Tosen's own face in curiosity, and Tosen felt the other tilt his head, muscles in his face shifting slightly in confusion as his hand brushed the visor that Tosen wore over his own useless eyes. When both of their curiosity of the other's face had been sated they both pulled back their hands.

"What happened for you to lose your sight?" Tosen was curious, he himself just remembered waking up and not being able to see- there had been panic, but that memory was long faded, and he often tried to recall if the panic had been from another attack or the fact he could no longer see.

"Poison, sand, and being a little too confident." Was the reply, and while Tosen sensed there was much more to the story- the boy had added the last part to what he had said to Aizen- he didn't pry, he had a feeling it was a moment that Kurosaki had burned in his memory- a mistake that cost him quite a lot for a shinigami trapped in Hueco Mundo. "Why do you wear that blindfold?"

"Because it's a way to remind others that I cannot see." He had gotten tired of people talking to him, asking why he wasn't looking at them, and the exclamations that followed- he was well aware that he was blind, they needn't have kept announcing it when they figured it out.

"Not to mention you hope that one day you'll remove it and you'll have regained your sight." There was no malice, just a bored tone that might have had a hint of amusement- Kurosaki had probably wished the same thing at one point. "You really want to see, don't you?"

"Don't you? Your sister and one of your friends are here- wouldn't you want to actually be able to see them?" If Tosen had loved ones, he would want to see them- as it was, he had long gone past the point of wishing to see his comrades to now whole-heartedly wishing to be able to see _anything_. He'd even accept not being able to see the strange idea of color as long as he could just _see_.

" . . . No. I don't want to see them here. The living world, yes, Seireitei, maybe, but here? No, I don't." A soft pain slipped into Kurosaki's speech, and Tosen thought he understood- Kurosaki was not desperate to see anything because he had already seen several horrors while in Hueco Mundo. Had probably seen souls devoured and been unable to do anything but attack- as much as he loved his sister, he would not want to see her in this place, in this prison because then it would be more painful that it already was.

"Do you intend to delude yourself that they aren't here, then?" Tosen had done that once, when he first became a shinigami, he'd been injured badly (though he couldn't remember how or why) and Unohana and his former captain had been worried and constantly talking about the chance of recovery- he had shut them both out, easily, pretending that the voices talking to him weren't real. It was a rather childish and cowardly move, though. (In his opinion, his recovery had more to do with his embracing the path of least bloodshed fully at that point.)

"No. I'm no coward . . . I'm just selfish." Kurosaki offered, and Tosen once again somewhat understood . . . but he could no longer stay and talk, he had stayed there a lot longer than he had meant, and he needed to get Wonderweis. "I hope you get your wish, Tosen." Tosen hesitated at the door, not for the first time wishing that he could see.

"Yours as well, Kurosaki."

Outside, Aizen, Wonderweiss, the Octava and a couple other arrancar were walking to the cell. "What were you doing Tosen?"

"Satisfying my curiosity." Tosen gave a slight nod, and felt Wonderweis come to his side. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for the last- He'll get to say good bye to the girls in a more comfortable setting, as we finish the last adjustments." Tosen nodded, understanding the necessary sacrifice that would follow, even though Aizen had said nothing. With a curt dismissal, Tosen and Wonderweis once again returned to the monitoring room.

_For sacrifices must be made in the name of Justice._

**Do you know how hard it is to write something without using any visual descriptions? It's **_**hard**_**, especially when that is the only point of view that is being written. Next up should be the rescue, and I think I'll do it in Rukia and Karin's point of view . . . maybe one other person. Everyone still following the plot?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.**

Shattered Chains V

"Hueco Mundo really is a desert." Rukia looked back as Renji spat sand- he'd tripped on the way out of the garganta and then was stepped on by Ikkaku, Rukia, Karin and Hiyori, forcing him to taste quite a lot of sand.

"Right. And that's Los Noches." Yoruichi pointed at the dome. Rukia bit her lip. It looked pretty close, but Yoruichi had warned them that distances were deceiving in Hueco Mundo.

Suddenly, rescuing Yuzu and Orihime felt a lot more difficult.

"Alright, everyone stick with your partner." Isshin ordered, Yoruichi moving to stand next to him with a cheeky grin. Rukia glanced at Karin, who was all but glaring at the dome. "Let's go."

They didn't run, but they set as fast of a pace as they could dare in the desert conditions. Rukia glanced around, trying to judge the distance to the dome- but it never seemed to get any closer. After what felt like hours, Isshin called a halt. Rukia almost toppled to her knees, out of breath.

"Just how far away is that place?" Renji growled, and Rukia smiled at her oldest friend. He was still as impatient as ever.

"Pretty far- what's that?!" As the quincy spoke, the ground started to shift.

"Sink hole!" Yoruichi hissed, but they were already too late to move. "Hold your breath and grab onto your partner!"

Rukia suddenly felt empathy for what it must've been like for sand in an hour glass. She kept a tight grip on Karin as they fell, and for one dizzying moment, her lungs felt ready to burst and she saw white stars burst across her vision, she thought she was going to suffocate before they got out- and then they were falling in air, and she heard Karin gasp the same time she greedily sucked in air, then she hit the ground, Karin landing on top of her, driving the air they had just gotten back _out_ of their lungs as sand continued to pour on them, though only a small trickle.

"Oh, that hurt . . ." Karin wholeheartedly agreed, moving off of Rukia and pushing herself to her knees. "Where are we now?"

"I've got a better question, where are the others?" Karin glanced around, not seeing anyone other than Rukia. "Shouldn't they have fallen in the same place?"

"No, not nessecarily, there might have been more than one tube for the sand to fall through." Rukia glanced at her partner. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah . . . is there any way for you to sense them?"

"There's too much negative interference from the hollows . . . and we should get moving- our goal is still Los noches, and that's as good of a place to regroup as any." Rukia glanced around, trying to figure a way out. Unfortunately, it all looked the same. "Well, uh, what's that game Yuzu did when trying to pick a treat?"

"Eenie, Meanie, Mini, Mo?" Karin raised an eyebrow. "You want to pick a direction with that?" But Rukia wasn't listening, and Karin felt her lips twitch despite her worry for her twin (and the Idiot she occasionally called 'Father'). Rukia had quickly become a part of the family, faster than any of the other Shinigami that stayed with them. She had a mix of Karin's own tough and argumentative nature, along with Yuzu's love of cute things. If Matsumoto had been like an aunt to them, Ikkaku and Renji had become brothers (Nii-san would be so disappointed, he was now the middle child) then Rukia had become their older sister- her dad even proclaiming that fact to the poster of their mother. (He wasn't interested in having more boys.)

Rukia eventually picked a direction, and the two began to walk, listening for not only hollows but their allies as well.

Neither knew how long they walked, or how far, but finally there was a change from the low growls of hunting hollows- sobbing.

Someone was crying, and was pretty close by. Karin and Rukia both drew their swords, and moved to investigate.

They found a little girl in what looked like an ill-fitting, slightly oversized green dress (or maybe a shirt?) curled at the bottom of a petrified tree.

"A baby?" Karin moved forward, only to be stopped by Rukia.

"A hollow." Rukia corrected, pointing out the cracked mask on the child's green hair. The little girl looked up, big tears rolling down her face. For a moment, she looked frightened, before she pushed to her feet, desperation and hope mingling on her face.

"Ha-have you seen my Aniki?"

"Your Aniki?" Rukia blanked. Was this hollow trying to find the soul of her brother?

"Uh-huh, Aniki's big and strong, he wears black outfits like yours too."

"Wait, your big brother is a shinigami?" The baby put her fist to her mouth, looking confused.

"He purifies souls, sends them to a nicer place by beating them up." She corrected, and Rukia almost hit her forehead with her hand.

"That's the same thing." Karin put her sword away, and crouched down- Yuzu did this when they were at the park and there was a child that had wandered too far from his mother. Karin wasn't that great with younger kids, or immature idiots, but she had watched Yuzu and Ichigo do it often enough. "Do you know where your brother is?"

"Dunno- the meanies from Los Noches came, they killed Bawabawa and Dondochaka-nii, and Pesche-nii-san lost an arm . . . but Aniki never came back. Pesche-nii-san said he was taken to Los Noches." The child sobbed again. "But that means I'll never see Aniki again!" Karin quietly pulled her into a hug- the only thing she could think of doing.

"We're going to Los Noches to rescue our friends. We could help you find your Aniki if you want."

"Really?" The little girl sniffed, rubbing her eyes as she pulled out of Karin's embrace. "You'd help?"

"Well, I have two questions I'd like to ask first- Why didn't your Aniki purify you or your other brothers?"

"He saved us- so we made a deal, when I got old enough to fight and save him, he'd purify us all."

"Okay, and where's this Pesche-nii-san?"

" . . . He said I couldn't save Aniki, so I went to save Aniki by myself . . . but I got lost." She sniffed.

"What's your name? I'm Karin, she's Rukia."

"I'm Nel Tu!"

"And what's your Aniki's name?"

"Um . . . Aniki told me once, but I always call him Aniki." Nel tilted her head, one arm supporting the other as she tapped a finger on her chin in thought. "It's numbers or fruit and flowers . . . oh, Itsygo! Kurosaki Itsygo!" Nel beamed, happy to remember.

Karin felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach- she sat on the ground as her legs stopped supporting her.

"Kurosaki . . . are you sure? Are you sure it was Kurosaki Ichigo?" Rukia knelt, careful not to accidently cut Nel with her blade.

"Yep! He's got Orange hair and a shiny white blade with redish-purple thread! He can't see, though." Nel noticed Rukia's eyes widened, confused at that reaction, she looked over at Karin, who looked pale. "What's wrong?"

"Nel . . . my full name is Kurosaki Karin- my Nii-san, Ichigo, has been missing for several months. We've been trying to find him . . ."

"You're Karin-nee-chan?" Nel blinked. "Aniki told me you were human, not shinigami!"

"Karin's only a temporary shinigami, Nel- that way she can fight to rescue her twin, Yuzu. So she's just borrowing that power."

"Oh, okay." Nel gripped onto Rukia's robes. Rukia picked her up. "Los Noches is that way- but it's pretty far . . . and I don't know all the paths." Nel pointed, and the trio set off.

Karin felt her heart finally start pounding again- her brother was still a plus, they could bring him home- unless Aizen did something to him- Aizen had her sister kidnapped- Ichigo always promised to protect them- _Was that why Yuzu and Orihime-chan were taken?_

It wasn't long before they met up with everyone else- who had found Pesche, who had been searching for Nel. Before the two could start arguing and her dad try and act like a fool, however, Karin spoke.

"Ichigo's alive, but Aizen has him in Los Noches." That stopped her dad more effectively than a punch. "Nel and Pesche's Aniki- that's Ichigo."

"Your Aniki is a shinigami?" Renji blinked.

"Well, yes- he saved us once, and then we found him when he'd been injured." Pesche explained. "It's not that unusal for hollows to join into packs to survive, especially if they're weak. Aniki's the strongest, so he became our Aniki. It was a mutual giving- he fights to protect us, and we take care of him so he doesn't become a hollow."

" . . . I think that just gave us even more of an incentive to rescue those imprisoned in Los Noches." Uryu murmured, Chad gave a small nod in agreement.

"Then let's get going!" Isshin grinned, and Karin smiled in return- they had a chance to save Yuzu _and _Ichigo. They could finally stop being broken- stepping on eggshells to avoid hurting anyone's feelings . . . because as much as Karin would never talk about her feelings on the loss of her brother to anyone she didn't trust (and especially not her idiot father) she would never lie and say that she hadn't missed Ichigo's presence, or admit out loud that she missed watching her brother and father go at it.

They split into pairs once they got into Los Noches- and no one noticed that Pesche and Nel had gone off by themselves.

* * *

Nel had fallen in love with Ichigo when he first saved her from a hollow- even though he was a shinigami, he hadn't turned his sword on her, instead letting the trio go. His orange hair had gleamed even in the moonlight, his aura had surrounded him with power and strength. And to Nel's child-like mind, He was a knight- a wandering warrior that would help the weak.

A hero that any little girl would fall in love with.

Not too long later, the trio and their pet had to dig themselves out of the sand from a sudden dust storm- probably from the 'desert king' hollow that ruled the sands. Nel had felt his reiatsu and dashed off- only to stop in horror as she saw her 'knight' on the ground, torn up by the sand and claws. Pesche had done his best to patch him up, and Nel had used a lot of saliva to help- but it was too late to fully heal Ichigo's eyes. They had quickly adopted Ichigo into their group, because blind or not, he was still powerful, and so an agreement was made- Ichigo would deal with the hollows that were too strong for Dondochaka and Pesche, and they would help him with getting food and drink- something he was now finding difficult with his lack of sight.

Ichigo had quickly become her favorite brother, because not only did he protect her, but he also cared for her and played with her, he always found her if they got seperated- and his aura when not in battle was comforting, like a warm blanket. She loved to fall asleep listening to the steady beat of his heart- it was her favorite sound.

So while everyone split up to search, Nel followed her instinct- focusing on the thread that would lead her to her aniki. Not even the arrancars of Los Noches paid them any mind, focusing instead on the shinigami, so they were undisturbed.

They found Muramasa first, pretty much just shoved into a closet with other swords that had belonged to other prisoners over the years, Muramasa tugged insistently in Pesche's hand, and led them to a large door. Pesche had to use all his strength to push it open just the small amount Nel needed to slip through, dragging Muramasa with her.

Nel stared at what looked like to be a big black tree, restraints that once held _someone_ were open, and covered in blood in the middle of the 'trunk'. Nel looked down at the base and saw a puddle of blood that soon turned into a trail to her right . . . _it smells like Aniki's._ A soft sound, or maybe some sixth sense, drew her gaze to the end of the trail and she gave a slight whimper. Her aniki lay against the wall, a bloody hole directly over his heart (it was in the center of the chest, right? That's where her other two brothers had holes), with several smaller bloody holes in his arms, neck, and legs.

"Aniki?" Nel stumbled over. "Aniki? Aniki?!" Nel called and called before tripping and landing next to his side. "Aniki, wake up!" She paid no attention to the puddle of blood she'd knelt in, trying to shake him awake . . . she spat as much saliva as she could on the hole in his chest, but her mouth quickly became dry . . . Nel burst into tears, as she realized it wasn't healing. She'd tried to heal Dondochaka, and his wounds hadn't closed and Pesche told her he was dead . . . "Aniki . . ." She whimpered as she sobbed. "You can't die, please, Aniki!" She held on to him, burying her face into his chest.

She wanted him to open his eyes, give her that frown and scold her for thinking he would die, she wanted someone to come and heal him- but they were all too busy fighting. She wanted him to rest his hand on her head- _There was a hand resting on her head!_

Still sobbing, Nel lifted her head. Her Aniki's clouded eyes were open, and his hand was resting on her head, thumb gently rubbing the spot between mask and hair. "Aniki?"

"Shh . . . Nel . . . it's okay. It's okay." Blood spurted out of his mouth, and it was taking him such an effort to get enough air to speak.

"Aniki, please don't die, please." She whimpered. His lips twitched in a sad smile, and his eyes started to close again, his hand becoming lax. Nel wailed, wishing, praying, for someone, anyone, to save her aniki from dying.

And behind her, forgotten by the distressed child, a Zanpakuto was determined to fulfill that wish.

**Heh, emotional chapter, but for some reason the image from the Lion King movie, where Simba was trying to wake Mufasa after he'd been killed came into mind- which was promptly followed by the image of Dondochaka and Pesche with Nel singing Hakuna Matata and my depression was totally ruined. (Does that image ruin yours?)**


	16. Chapter 16

Shattered Chains VI

Isshin was more than happy to sit down on the rubble outside of the fortress. Next to him, Gin Ichimaru leaned back, probably enjoying the sun for the first time in months. Shinji gently set Yoruichi down- she'd broken her own leg and arm to keep the 7th espada from using them, and was able to stop him from using Soifon against her- and Hiyori none to gently pushed Soifon to sit next to the shapeshifter.

Even the weakest Arrancars were at least Lieutenant level, he absently noted. The battle- while not being the hardest fight he'd ever had- had certainly not been the easiest. He could feel the reiatsu signatures of his allies heading towards them, and gave a small smile. He wasn't going to have to apologize or explain to Ryuken that his son had died- he really didn't want to be turned into target practice for the older quincy.

"What now?" Soifon was leaning against Yoruichi, pale and trembling. Isshin sighed.

"We'll figure that out when everyone's here- but I'd like to point out that Aizen, Tosen and several arrancar aren't here." Isshin glanced at Gin, studying the paler man. "You wouldn't happen to know where they've gone?"

"Either the Seireitei or the living world. Beyond that, I dunno." Gin sighed. Isshin looked up in relief as Rukia, Karin and Yuzu arrived, Yuzu immediately running to him and grabbing him in a hug, sobbing.

"Yuzu, what's wrong?"

"They killed Ichi-nii this morning." She whimpered. Yoruichi stiffened, surprising Soifon, who looked up at her, before shyly wrapping her arms around her mentor. Yoruichi managed a small smile, and wrapped her good arm around her. Shinji swore softly, and Gin's eyes opened slightly, showing anger and disgust. Hiyori glanced at Karin, scowling but concern lacing her eyes, and Rukia was stoic but slightly pale and shaking.

Isshin wondered why he knew what they were all feeling, but couldn't tell what he himself was feeling. He could only open his arms for Karin to join the hug as something was painfully torn in his heart. "How," His throat almost closed, but he pushed on, "how do you know?"

"They moved us into a nice room so that we could spend one last night with Ichigo-kun . . . so he could say goodbye." It was Orihime who spoke, approaching with Renji and Uryu, both looking pale. Behind them, Chad was carrying Ikkaku, the bald shinigami muttering under his breath. "Ichigo-kun knew, but he kept saying everything was going to be alright . . . they didn't tell us until they came to take him away." Orihime was trembling, and Uryu awkwardly wrapped an arm around her, which she leaned into. Yuzu sobbed a little harder at that, and Isshin closed his eyes, imagining his son trying to comfort them even though he knew he was never going to see them again- he didn't think it was even possible for his heart to ache any more than it already did.

"That bastard, playing with your emotions . . . I'm going to kill him." Hiyori seethed. Isshin gave a cold smile.

"Not if I get there first." He met Hiyori's eyes, and the girl nodded, a smirk forming.

"Out of curiosity, does the no-kill rule apply to Aizen?" Uryuu raised his hand. "Because I for one, don't think it would be that much of a loss to erase his existence."

"I'd vouch for you, Quincy." Soifon spoke, blushing at the approving smile Yoruichi gave her. Isshin raised an eyebrow at the usually cold and rule-bound current second division captain offering to turn the other way.

"Well, even if it doesn't, your aim could be just a little off and you kill him on accident- they couldn't hold that against ya." Ikkaku pointed out, and blinked as Orihime began to heal him.

"On a different topic, what happened to Nel and Pesche?" Karin pulled out of the hug, Isshin gave her a small nod, even as Yuzu just clung tighter.

"I dunno- I haven't seen them- what the hell, didn't we beat that guy?" Ikkaku demanded, pointing at a giant of an arrancar with his left arm dangling at his side.

"I'm going to kill you all . . ." Isshin pushed himself to his feet, quickly pulling Yuzu and Karin behind him as the giant suddenly exploded with reiatsu and grew, legs multiplying.

"The hell, I thought he was number ten." Everyone blinked at Chad, who was looking wide-eyed at the espada who's arm he'd dislocated, and who's neck he thought he'd broken. A zero stood out on the monster's left shoulder.

"Yammy- he's number ten, normally, but when he enters Ressurecion, he becomes the Cero Espada." Gin stated offhandedly, but Isshin could see him trying to straighten- and then realized what the former traitor-but-not-really just said.

"_Cero?_" Isshin felt the blood drain from his face. They were all tired, and his own reiatsu was taking a lot longer to restore itself than it use to (almost twenty years powerless . . . he wished it didn't have this side effect), and Orihime wouldn't be able to heal all of them in time to do _anything_. Yammy fired the largest Cero he had ever seen, and there was a pulse of reiatsu as something green flashed past them- and suddenly the cero vanished into them.

"What the-?" Yammy blinked- echoing several of the shinigami, ironically. Isshin stared at the long green hair, but had to shield his eyes as a huge pink cero- double the size of the one just absorbed- shot from the person and hit Yammy, slamming him back.

"Who?" The woman turned her head, and for a moment, she looked almost bored, before smiling.

"Hey guys! I finally grew up!" The voice was child-like, and Isshin couldn't help but gape as he saw the . . . chest size she had.

"_Nel?_ Is that you?" Karin blinked at the former baby arrancar.

"Yep!" The now grown Nel beamed with a childish sort of pleasure, Isshin couldn't help but liken it to Yuzu's pride when she brought home a picture she drew back in kindergarten.

"You're an espada!" Soifon pointed at the grown Nel's back, and Isshin blinked at her. "The Tres!"

"Huh? Oh, I _was_ the former tres, Neliel Tu Odelshwank, but the current Quinta tried to kill me and I lost my memory and became a child! I beat him, so you don't have to worry about him." Neliel explained, waving her hand as if to help them forget all about the 5th, still smiling. She then bowed. "I owe you all a great debt, so please, relax, and let us fight for you."

"Neliel, dodge!" Came a sudden warning, and Isshin blinked as Neliel disappeared, just missing the swipe from Yammy.

"She's as fast as the former and current 2nd division captains, I think." Isshin finally managed, ignoring Soifon's scowl and Yoruichi's slightly contemplative look. He returned his gaze to the battle, as a second figure- a blur of black and white- joined the green blur that was Neliel. Yammy howled as one arm was cut apart. The two drove Yammy back, away from the others.

"Hey, everyone doing alright?" Pesche came up, and sat down, a large gash on his torso and holding a sword of pulsing light.

"Pesche!"

"Wait, if you're here, who's fighting with Neliel?" Uryu asked, and suddenly there was a huge surge of reiatsu- a strange pulse of shinigami, hollow and something Isshin couldn't identify but felt familiar- and the huge explosion that followed made their ears ring. Orihime threw up a barrier, stopping in her healing of Yoruichi, to keep them from getting torn by the sand. The shockwave that accompanied it, however, still ended up knocking those that were standing off their feet.

When the dust finally cleared, Isshin stepped forward as Orihime let down the barrier. Neliel was kneeling on the ground in front of the person who was wearing a black hooded coat that was ragged with white lines. The person's left shoulder had a red and blue shoulder guard.

"I'm _tired_." Neliel whined, reminding them of the child she had been. "All this fighting is really tiring." The person chuckled.

"And you wondered why I would always sleep so soundly." The person slipped out of Bankai, revealing orange hair, and Isshin felt his heart leap. "But you've definitely earned a nap." Neliel nodded, but as she stood up there was a sudden pop, and she had returned to being a child. The man caught her.

"Why'd I change back?" Nel yawned.

"Beats me." Nel just nodded, kissed the man's cheek, and then crawled over his shoulder so she could curl up in the hood that had remained. Finally, the man turned, and Isshin knew full well he had tears falling down his face as he recognized his _son_. (Though some part of him had already known it when he started speaking even if his mind hadn't fully believed it until he could see the face.) His hair was slightly longer and shaggy, falling into his eyes, he looked taller, and a little thinner, but there was no mistaking that sharp jaw and high cheekbones.

"Ichigo, is that you?" Ichigo tilted his head, a familiar frown forming, and Isshin felt his heart almost stop again as he realized the warm amber-brown eyes of his son were clouded over, as if covered by a gray film.

"Tou-san? What are you doing here?" Isshin had moved forward without realizing it, one hand reaching out to touch his son's face for the first time in almost a year. There were small scars around his son's eyes, and marks on the gray film that he knew were where something had cut into the eyes. Ichigo unconsciously leaned into the touch as Isshin studied the slightly wearied features of his firstborn.

"We came to rescue Yuzu and Inoue-chan . . . and to find out what happened to you." Isshin felt his throat try to close again. "Son, are you blind? Can you see anything?" Behind him he heard gasps and sharp intakes of breath as the others heard- and Yuzu and Orihime confirmed.

"Yeah, haven't been able to for a while, don't know how long." There was a small smirk that turned back into a frown as Ichigo reached up and gently traced the contours of his father's face. Isshin let him, knowing that that with one sense down the others would compensate, and it would probably be the first time in a long time that Ichigo would ever touch him that wasn't in a fight. "It's not so bad- according to that emo-arrancar, it means I can't get hypnotized by Aizen's sword, since I can't see it." Ichigo pulled his hand away, and Isshin felt oddly bereaved.

"I suppose so." Isshin didn't even see the fist coming- one minute, he was looking at his son, the next he was looking at the false blue sky of Los Noches. He blinked and looked at Ichigo, ignoring the cries of surprise.

"What's the pity for, goat-face? I've been trapped here for months, I was lucky to just lose my sight instead of a limb, my heart or my life! It was own fault I became blind in the first place, so don't feel sorry for me or yourself or I'll kick you from here to Tokyo!" Ichigo snapped, and Isshin jumped to his feet.

"I'm your father! I'm allowed to worry about your health, idiot son of mine!" Ichigo dodged the punch he threw, but Isshin smiled, and grabbed him in to a hug. He felt Ichigo tense for a moment, before relaxing and returning it. "I missed you, son, I've been trying to find a way to save you for months that wouldn't catch Aizen's attention."

"I know. I've been fighting to get back to you guys ever since I came here." Ichigo responded. "I don't think I've ever been so scared as I was when the cell opened and I heard Yuzu's voice, and knowing I couldn't do a damn thing other than try to survive." Isshin tightened the hug.

"I wish I could say it's over and you have nothing to fear, but we both know that's not true." They pulled apart, just in time for Karin and Yuzu to launch themselves at Ichigo and hold on tight. Isshin turned away and wiped his eyes, noticing the awkwardness of the others, though Yoruichi and Shinji were smiling, Isshin knew that out of everyone gathered, they were the only two that understood the Kurosaki family dynamic- and how much it meant that they were all together again. "Alright, now we just have to figure out where Aizen went and how to get out of here."

"Aizen's in the Seireitei." Ichigo spoke up, straightening but resting a hand each on Karin and Yuzu's heads. "So's Tosen, and the espadas 1 through four, and six as well- they didn't trust him not to get into trouble."

"How do you know, Kurosaki?"

"They thought they killed me when they drained my reiatsu, they were pretty free in talking about their plans- apparently Aizen's got a base already there, so they were going to abandon this place and go there." Ichigo shrugged, and gave a small apologetic grin as Nel reached up and tugged his hair. His shouting had woken her, and though she was still sleepy she wanted to see what was going on.

"How'd you survive, Nii-san? They said you wouldn't." Yuzu still had her arms around his waist, extremely reluctant to let go. Isshin couldn't blame her- but as painful as it was, he couldn't go back to the living world and hide his family until this all blew over.

"Yeah, and I think I did for a moment- however, I sealed a good portion of my reiatsu away without Aizen's knowing. So when I died, my Zanpakuto released the energy he had been hiding to keep me from completely dying." Ichigo chuckled. "It was a good thing Nel and Pesche found it and brought it to me, I wouldn't have made it otherwise." Isshin felt a small burst of pride at his son's resourcefulness, which quickly turned to surprise. "Now, let's go to the Seireitei, I want to kill Aizen."

"What?!" That was completely unlike Ichigo- Isshin knew full well that his son, while he did get into fights, never did so unless provoked, and wasn't one to hunt down a person to continue a fight.

"What makes ya think a kid like you could kill him?" Gin asked, straightening. "Why would you want to, for that matter?"

"Let's see, he's threatened my family and friends, kidnapped two of them, tortured and almost killed me, and wants to become a god and rule the worlds- why wouldn't I want to kill him? If those aren't good enough reasons, I can add some more. As for my ability to kill him . . ." Ichigo gave a small smile. "He's strong, but he's definitely not invincible, if I can't kill him, I can definitely line him up so someone else can."

"You've got a point, by we still don't know how to get out of here- the only way out is a garganta, but the vizards aren't able to make one." Yoruichi sighed.

"You're joking right?" Ichigo didn't give Isshin or Yoruichi a chance to respond. "Hey, Pesche, think you've got enough power to open a garganta to the seireitei?"

"Sure thing, Aniki- take care of Nel for me, she'd throw a fit if she got left behind." Pesche jumped up, Orihime having already healed him. "Think Aizen would mind if I borrowed some of his stuff?"

"Who cares?" Ichigo asked at the same time Renji and Ikkaku muttered the question.

"Good point. Alright one garganta to the Seireitei coming up!" Pesche flipped, and then, as if pulling open a door, he pulled on air and created a rip through space big enough for even Chad to walk through. "Ladies and injured first!" Isshin couldn't stop the smile as he clapped his son on the shoulder, and with Yoruichi lead the way. He heard Nel call out a farewell to Pesche, and listened as Chad and Uryu brought Ichigo up to speed on their lives, and Renji and Ikkaku introduce themselves along with Hiyori and Shinji.

His son was alive, they'd rescued his youngest daughter and Karin could protect herself and her twin if need arose. Isshin grinned. Aizen better watch out, because there was one thing that all four Kurosaki's agreed on.

_You don't mess with our family and friends and get away with it._

* * *

**Sorry I didn't go into detail with the individual fights and rescues- but that sort of took up way too much time to go through all of them. **

**So here's how the fights would have played out, you can use your imaginations:**

**Isshin & Yoruichi- find Gin and Soifon**

**Chad & Ikkaku vs Yammy (not to mention Dondorini, lucky dance vs his dancing anyone?)**

**Karin & Rukia vs the Novena- find Yuzu**

**Gin & Isshin vs Octava**

**Soifon and Yoruichi vs Septimo**

**Renji & Uryu vs Tesra and other fraciones- find Orihime**

**Shinji and Hiyori vs privarion espada and other fracciones**

**Nel and Pesche vs Nnoitora- after rescuing Ichigo**

**And then of course we saw the final fight,**

**Neliel and Ichigo Vs the Cero espada.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Remember, this is an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, and as such, subject to the creative liscence of this fanfiction writer. I own nothing.**

Shattered Pieces I

Ukitake Jushiro coughed- and then couldn't stop until something wet landed on his hand and he dimly realized it was blood. He stared wearily at it, not for the first time wondering why he was still able to get sick despite being _dead_.

"Jushiro?" He blinked and looked up at the face of his best friend, jingasa and pink kimono missing- when he had shed it Jushiro didn't remember- and realized that the reason he wasn't on the ground was because the other man was supporting him.

"I'm fine . . . just tired." Kyoraku Shunsui just nodded, and glanced out at the rubble. They both knew Ukitake was lying, but there was no point in pointing that out. The dome that once covered the seireitei was destroyed, buildings were demolished and everyone had been evacuated to the 1st and 4th divisions- except those that were still capable of fighting the relentless waves of hollows that still came. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto's return had been a blessed relief, as both were quick to reduce and weaken the oncoming hollow, but it hadn't been enough.

Worse was the news that Abarai, Madarame and Rukia were going with Kurosaki Isshin into the devil's lair to rescue Isshin's daughter. They could have used the power.

"This is shit." Kyoraku muttered, and Ukitake didn't bother responding. They were being attacked on home ground, they should've had the advantage, but instead they were being beaten and there was no telling how the rukongai was faring, the seventh, sixth and tenth third seats had been sent out when this whole thing started, but communication was completely destroyed.

Both men tensed as a Garganta opened right behind them- but before they could muster themselves Kurosaki Isshin and Shihoin Yoruichi came out with Ichimaru Gin, Soifon, and several others.

"Isshin!" Ukitake smiled, though perhaps more wearily than he would have liked. They had been friends, the trio often getting together for drinks much to the ire and amusement of their respective lieutenants. "I take it you were successful then?" Isshin gave a grim smile and nodded, and a girl with bright hair came over to them- her dress was white and torn, but she gave them both a small smile as she touched the silver hair clips in her hair. Ukitake blinked as suddenly breathing was much easier, and he heard Kyoraku give a soft sigh of relief.

"Orihime Inoue, she was taken with my daughter, Yuzu." Isshin explained, and the group gathered round. "What's the situation?"

"It's as bad as it can get, I think." Kyoraku started, but was cut off by a soft snort. It came from a tall teen with shaggy orange hair and a black coat- the white chain that was connected to his sword went up his arm to his elbow, and he had a slight scowl though he didn't make eye contact.

"Aizen and his espada aren't here, it's not as bad as it can get." The youth corrected, and winced as Yoruichi hit him.

"Now's not the time for a joke."

"Who said I was joking?" He retorted. Ukitake felt his chest tighten in a way that had nothing to do with his illness. The boy looked like Kaien, if Kaien had dyed his hair and let it grow out a bit. A tiny little girl wearing green poked her head over his shoulder.

"Aniki doesn't joke about fights unless it's a play fight." She chided. While Kyoraku and Isshin got the discussion back on track, Ukitake walked over, curious.

"I'm Ukitake-taicho, of the 13th division. Who are you?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo." The young man scowled- definitely not Kaien reincarnated, then. "The gaki's Nel Tu."

"Hiya!" The child waved, and Ukitake noted the cracked white mask on her head.

"She's an arrancar?"

"Sort of. She's a bit different- she hates fighting for no reason and prefers playing games." Ichigo tilted his head.

"Oi, it's rude to talk about someone when they're right in front of you!" Nel huffed, and Ukitake chuckled.

"I apologize, I was surprised." Ukitake smiled as Nel seemed to forgive him. "How old are you, Nel-chan? You look awfully young to be an arrancar."

"Dunno. Aniki, I'm hungry, I wants some pumpkin!" Nel tugged Ichigo's hair. Ukitake chuckled.

"I have some snacks if you'd like them, Nel-chan- with your Aniki's permission, of course." Ukitake added, pulling out a bag of snacks. Nel all but fell out of the hood she was using as an impromptu carrier.

"Food?" Ukitake blinked, and then smiled as the word snacks had attracted Yuzu and Karin. He'd seen them once when they'd talked to Isshin about Aizen's interest in his family.

"Hai, here. How are you two doing? I heard Yuzu was kidnapped." Nel jumped out of the hood to join them in eating.

"We're doing fine." Karin waved dismissively, and Ukitake just nodded and gave a small smile. He turned and found himself once again looking at Kurosaki Ichigo. The youth was facing his sisters, but had his head tilted to listen to the conversation behind him.

Ukitake was going to speak, but an announcement that echoed despite the roars of the hollows and explosions of kido cut him off.

'**All captains, report to the 1****st**** Division. Repeat, All captains report to the 1****st**** Division, Code Red Omega. Repeat, Code Red Omega.**' Ukitake blinked, eyes widening. There was no way they were going to attempt _that_ now, after all the damage they'd taken?

"Well, guess that means we're going to have to split up again." Isshin glanced at the girls. "Yuzu, Karin, you'd better stick with me."

"Nel, you and Orihime should go with them as well." Ichigo spoke and Ukitake blinked as Isshin looked ready to object, but swallowed it instead.

"I'll look out for her, Ichigo-kun." Orihime nodded, and Nel didn't object to being picked up by the young woman.

"You'll come back, right Aniki?" Ukitake winced- he'd heard one too many questions like that lately, and not all had been kept.

"Tch, as long as I'm breathing, you really think I wouldn't?" Ichigo reached out and gently tapped her on her mask with a fist. "Stay out of trouble."

* * *

Kyoraku Shunsui knew that it was a mark of how bad things had gotten that the Sotaicho just opened his eyes and studied the two vizards for a minute (Hiyori had wanted to go and fight, but Shinji had talked her out of it- they didn't need a shinigami to panic and try and attack her) before accepting their presence. Harder to accept was Nel's presence, and Karin had given Kurotsuchi Mayuri a very creative suggestion of where he could put his scapel when he asked to vivisect the child arrancar. (Earning the respect of one very amused Zaraki Kenpachi, who very quickly demanded Karin be put in his division. Isshin put his foot down.)

Shunsui glanced to the side so he didn't laugh. With the battle and strain placed on the Shinigami, most had gone without their usual styles, and it had been a great surprise to see Mayuri without his usual war paint (make-up) and head dress, for all of them, even the sotaicho had done a double-take.

"Before we discuss the reason I gave the code, I want you all to look at the battle field. I need strategy discussed in case it fails."

Kyoraku blinked in shock as the screen showed a boy dressed in Quincy attire firing a bow. He'd seen him come through with Isshin, but had not had much time to comment. The arrows struck two Menos grande, and made them hesitate, before they were destroyed by a red blast. When the screen returned to the quincy, the 6th division fukutaicho stood next to the quincy, both surrounded by a giant skeletal snake.

"He achieved Bankai?" Byakuya asked from where he stood, face expressionless. Kyoraku ignored him in favor of studying the Quincy.

He had been part of the elimination of the Quincy's, had dislike every minute of it, because he had been hoping that they could find a way to work together.

But the problem was their arrows erased souls, and even hollow souls were ones that could still be potentially redeemed, and when negotiations had fallen through there hadn't been much of a choice but to remove all but the very old or very young out of the way so they couldn't continue to erase a large amount of souls.

"The quincy isn't aiming to destroy them." Komamura pointed out, and Kyoraku blinked.

"He understands the cost- he promised not to erase them unless there was no alternative, but he also gave no guarantee that he would be so kind to do the same for Aizen." Soifon spoke up, looking much more like herself, though a little thinner than she had been. "As you can see, he is using his arrows to slow down or weaken opponents for Abarai-fukutaicho to destroy. This way they don't use too much of their combined power."

"Then we will not discuss the Quincy. Next quadrant." This battle attracted Kenpachi's interest as the human destroyed several hollow in one punch, Ikkaku covering his back.

"Sado Yasutora, he's human, but capable of fighting hollow." Isshin explained. "His powers seem to be a combination of shinigami and hollow."

"He'll be a shinigami if he dies, right?"

"More than likely- let me guess, you want him for your squad?" Gin asked, smiling, though Kenpachi ignored him in favor of watching Chad pick up a huge piece of rubble to throw and knock down oncoming hollow that had been about to kill another shinigami.

The next screen showed Kurosaki Ichigo effortlessly cutting down hollows regardless of level.

"My son, Kurosaki Ichigo. Aizen had him imprisoned- and apparently tried to kill him by draining his reiatsu. He's blind, and hasn't seen Aizen's release." That made them all stiffen. Aizen's illusions were a real detriment to any plan, finding one person that was alive, uninjured and able to fight without fear of being hypnotized on accident had turned out to be almost impossible- Aizen had made sure that anyone with strength in the Gotei 13 had seen it, and the few that hadn't reached Shikai, let alone Bankai.

"I see. And his strength?"

"He was at captains level when we talked- but he's says that's only half of his power. Aizen hadn't been aware that his zanpakuto had sealed part of it away." Yoruichi explained. Kyoraku found himself re-evaluating his opinion of the boy who had corrected him.

"But he's a child, and there's no telling what else Aizen did to him while he was imprisoned. Is he even capable of killing Aizen?" Unohana pointed out.

"Oh, he's more than willing to kill Aizen." Gin chuckled without humor. "Kid gave me a list of reasons, and said that even if he didn't manage it, he'd make sure to leave a spot so someone else could kill him. On that note, I don't think I got to mention this in any report, if ya manage to touch Aizen's blade before he releases it, you'll be able to keep from getting hypnotized- at least for a short period of time."

"That's good to know." Shinji murmured.

"But essentially useless, it will be difficult to get that close without him already having released his blade." Kurotsuchi pointed out.

The other sectors that they reviewed were having more trouble- most of the lieutenants were tiring.

"I think it's obvious now why you called it . . . but we're missing captains and two of us are significantly weaker than we'd like, we could probably do it without one, though." Kyoraku sighed, and absently wondered where his hat had gone- he didn't remember when he'd taken it off.

"Hirako, for the time being, would you consider a temporary position as captain of the fifth? For as long as the war against Aizen lasts- I can suspend the order of exile or execution for that long, as the 46 no longer exist." Shinji glanced at him stonily, but nodded.

"I can help Gin." Isshin glanced at the 3rd division taichou, who nodded.

"I can help Soifon, we don't need the ninth." Yoruichi agreed. "You all stay here." She instructed, and those in the room that weren't captains (former or current) nodded.

Kyoraku sighed as he raced off, ignoring Kenpachi's mutterings of 'waste of time' and 'stupid codes'. Hopefully, the 11th division taicho wouldn't get lost.

Code Red Omega was an emergency rebuilding of the dome that usually protected the Seireitei. It used all or most of the captains, and required them to use much of their reiatsu.

And quite frankly, it had never actually been done before. They'd never had a situation where the dome was shattered. They all knew the theory of it, though, had 'drilled' by occasionally strengthening the dome, so there wouldn't be too much difficulty.

Reaching and entering the shrine that was imbedded in the wall with the number eight written above it, Kyoarku took a deep breath before grabbing the statue that rested in the middle of it and began pushing his reiatsu into it. He closed his eyes, and it felt as if he was separated from his body, hovering in a place of pure power- the other captains were there, standing facing in and looking a sphere of fading light. One by one they reached out and grabbed hands- the spots where the second and third stood were occupied by people that were half and half of the two supplying their power.

His power connected with Komamura's and then strained to hold onto Hitsugaya. Once all were connected, thin strands of reiatsu stretched forth and pulled into the ball.

'_It's not working._' The reiatsu was collecting, but it wasn't pulling together to strengthen the barrier. Another instant had another thought, this time from Kyoraku.

'_I can't hold on to Hitsugaya, I can't strengthen the barrier and hold onto him at the same time._' Hitsugaya tried to hold on as well, but their hands were still slipping apart, as if the distance was growing greater.

Their hands finally weren't able to continue to stretch, and both lost their grip. For a moment, it looked as if everything was going to crumble and they would get hit by the backwash of power that would occur when someone grabbed Kyoraku's hand and Hitsugaya's as well, a thrill of power connecting them and unifying the circle.

'_What do you need me to do?_'

'_Kurosaki Ichigo, what are you doing? Only captains and higher ups know of this._'

'_Not the time to ask questions, Gramps. Tell me what I need to do._' Kyoraku smiled.

'_You need to send your reiatsu into the center- that's the dome. Send as much as you can without risking your life._' Kyoraku ignored the surprise from the others- Ichigo was right, this wasn't the time to look a gift horse in the mouth. Ichigo didn't hesitate, and black and white reiatsu- which felt strange, but strangely comforting- joined the others. This time, however, the captains were surprised to see his reiatsu latching onto to others and twining them together. Even those whose reiatsu seemed to naturally repulsed like the sotaicho's and Hitsugaya's, or Byakuya and Kenpachi's, twined together willingly with Ichigo's reiatsu, quickly forming a multi-colored ball of light. The ball quickly grew until it engulfed them as well, sending a soft rush of spirit energy that made them relax.

'_For a second, I thought we wouldn't make it._' Kurotsuchi muttered.

'_Kurosaki, what's wrong?_' Hitsugaya demanded of the young man next to him, who was starting to fade in and out.

'_Ichigo?!_' Isshin demanded.

'_I'm fine, wound just opened up. Used too much reiatsu. Can I go?_'

'_Yes, we're done here._' And then Ichigo vanished, quickly followed by everyone else. Kyoraku took a deep breath and looked at the dome that now surrounded them- it practically glittered with power. A relief, that quickly turned to concern as he raced towards the Ninth's shrine- when they were able to get a breather, he was going to get drunk, play board games with Jushiro (maybe Yachiru and Unohana), drink some more, and happily get knocked out by his Nanao-chan. He was tired of being on edge all the time.

He opened the door to see that Ichigo had come out of Bankai, was wearing a torn hakama and looked like he'd been put through the wringer a couple of times. Worse, there was a bloody gash on his torso that had re-opened, and it looked like his ribs were bruised.

"I guess it would be pointless to ask how you feel." Kyoraku moved over, the youth- because now that he wasn't fighting it was frightening to realize how young he actually was- jerked slightly reaching for his zanpakuto. "Whoa, take it easy, I'm Kyoraku Shunsui, Captain for the 8th division, you met me before, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Oh, sorry." Ichigo shifted, and Kyoraku mentally kicked himself as he remembered that the boy was blind and so wouldn't have a clue what he looked like- or that it was actually the same person.

"It's fine, can you stand? I can get you to a healer."

"Maybe." Ichigo winced as he tried to stand. "Not." He added, sinking back down. "Sorry, it's all catching up to me."

"I bet. It's fine, I can carry you, but could you tell me one thing?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Fair enough- how did you know about the shrine . . . and that we needed help?"

"Technically, that's two. But my Zanpakuto knew what you were trying to do when the barrier first went up. He told me you needed all spots filled for it to work, and since I was closest and didn't know anyone else to ask." Ichigo shrugged as Kyoraku helped him up. "I just did what he told me to do. He tends to be right."

"I see." Isshin's kid was definitely unusual- but then given his dad's genetics, he supposed it couldn't be helped. "Alright, then- just a warning, the instant you're healed and considered able to talk, everyone's going to be asking questions." He chuckled at the kid's grimace, before realizing that the kid actually meant it. "What's wrong?"

"I . . . I haven't been around a lot of people, and I'm bad at remembering names- it's going to be worse now because I can't see them to place voices with looks." Ichigo quietly admitted. Kyoraku winced, realizing once again that the kid he was helping had no idea of what even the area looked like- he couldn't sense reiatsu right now because his body was starting to shut down from the stress it had gone through in a relatively short amount of time- and while his family was there, they might as well have been strangers because so much had happened, on both sides.

The kid could either sink or swim, and right now, it was all he was capable of to keep his head above the surface. Probably why he hadn't hesitated to grab onto the lifeline Kyoraku had unintentionally thrown him. Which meant the kid was going to hold on and trust him not to let him drown. Even if he hadn't been Isshin's kid, Kyoraku would have done his best to help him.

"Don't worry, I'll help you out- or Ukitake will, if I'm not there. You met him right?"

"Yeah, gave Nel and my sisters some snacks. He seemed nice."

**That's chapter 17 done. So let's see . . . next two chapters are probably going to be down time, then after that . . . more on the war . . . and eventual conclusion.**

**Remember how I said I wrote this a year ago? I literally knew very little of the Bleach universe- I was watching episodes (and parts of episodes) on Youtube, and reading summaries of summaries- and Fanficition. Not to mention, at that point I thought Bleach ended with Ichigo beating Aizen (shows what I knew).**

**So yeah, now that it's a year later and I'm posting these chapters, I realize how many errors there are. I just don't feel like changing the story that I already wrote.**


	18. Chapter 18

Shattered Pieces II

Unohana sank on her bed with an unusual lack of grace, hair falling out of it's usual braid and splaying all around her.

She couldn't remember ever being this tired before. She gave a weak smile at the ceiling. She'd gotten the help of the 5th and 7th divisons to clean up, as most of her own divison was busy with wounded.

She desperately wanted a nap, but was now too tired to sleep. (How that worked, she had no idea, but she had half a mind to ask Mayuri to look into it for her.) She stared at the ceiling for a while, and was startled when her door opened.

"Oh, sorry! I was looking for the supply room!" Unohana just smiled.

"It's alright, Kurosaki-chan . . . which twin are you?" The girl was sweet, and Unohana could already tell she would be part of her own division.

"Yuzu, you're Hana-san, right?"

"Unohana. But Hana-san is fine. Would you like to sit with me?" The girl looked as exhausted as she felt. "You won't get into trouble."

"If that's alright." Yuzu entered. "You have really long hair." Out of the braid, her hair was much longer, almost touching the floor. Unohana smiled.

"Thank you. I like to keep it long. How are you doing?" She checked the girl's temperature. "You were in Hueco Mundo, weren't you?"

"Hai, but nothing happened to me." Unohana didn't like how that sounded.

"Yuzu-chan, I'm a healer. Anything you tell me will be kept confidential, even from your father. Soul Society laws are much different from those of the living world." She studied the young girl. "You can tell me- not all wounds are physical, some can be mental or emotional."

" . . . I thought Nii-san was going to die." Yuzu whispered, after a long moment of silence. "We only saw him a couple of times- twice in the cell, and then once in a really nice room. He was so tired, even though he smiled and laughed. It was worse than going to see his body in the hospital, because while I didn't know where he was, I knew he'd be strong and do his best to come back." Unohana sat up and wrapped her arms around the girl. "But there . . . I knew he couldn't escape, especially with me there, so he had to let them do what they wanted." Yuzu broke down. "Jaegerjacques-san was angry, he came into the room after they took away Nii-san and Clifer-san told us he was going to be killed."

"Who are they?"

"Jaegerjacquez is the sexta espada- he was really nice to me, kept asking me questions about Nii-san because he wanted to fight him. Kinda like Zaraki-san. He didn't like Orihime-nee-chan all that much, but he taught me how to fight to defend myself." Yuzu blushed. "He was really mad they were going to kill Nii-san before he got a chance to fight him." Unohana frowned. They hadn't had much experience with arrancar- most died when they broke their mask because they couldn't handle their own power. They were always described as intelligent, and capable of trickery, but Yuzu was describing someone that might have been cruel, but still had honor enough to look after a potential opponent's family when they couldn't.

That didn't sound like mimicking an emotion- that sounded like a creature that had emotion. "And Clifer?"

"Clifer-san is the cuarta espada. He was our main guard, he never showed much emotion, and he only protected us because he was told to by Aizen." Yuzu shuddered. "He was safe, but if Aizen told him too, he would have killed us." Unohana frowned.

An arrancar with honor, and then one that was blindly loyal. Supposedly when the masks shattered, they regained reason and intelligence, but they were still hollow.

"Your Nii-san survived- he's recovering, and no one will let you get captured again." Unohana soothed. "He must've been born under a lucky star, to have survived for so long."

"I know . . . but I'm so useless . . . I don't have powers, I'm just a living human able to see spirits. I couldn't do anything for Nii-san other than hold him." And Yuzu burst into tears.

"Shh, shh." Unohana rubbed her back. "It's okay." Yuzu just clung to her, and Unohana realized with a small pang that Yuzu had taken on the role of their mother- Kurosaki-kun had looked out for them, and Karin was the voice of practicality for them, Isshin had provided for them, but Yuzu had been a mother to her family- but it was painfully obvious that she needed a mother, too. "My division is often looked down on, because we manage supplies and clean up after the other divisions have battled hollows- we're on the back lines while most everyone else is at the front. We don't rush into battle because we're the ones that make sure the others are capable of fighting it. It's a thankless job at times, but . . . 'they also serve who wait.'" Unohana smiled. She faintly remembered being a mother, but much time had gone past since then and the memory had faded, but her maternal instinct remained. She would fight if necessary- fight to protect those who were weak and unable to fight, like a mother bear would fight for her cubs- but she loved healing and nurturing more. "You might have felt that you couldn't do anything, but I can guarantee your brother drew strength for your presence, even if he couldn't see. I've been a shinigami and healer for a long time- I've seen what can happen to those who are locked away with nothing to hold onto, and it's almost always the same. They stop fighting to live, first, and simply fight to exist, and eventually stop trying to continue their own existence and give up on everything." She had to check the prisoners in Muken and the Maggots nest, as well as any who were locked into the repentance center. Just because most everyone else forgot they existed once locked away, didn't mean she would. "You gave him a reason to keep fighting to live, just by being there and holding him." Unohana was a good judge of character- had to be, so she knew the right amount of intimidation, negotiation and compassion to use on others to make sure they didn't hurt themselves or others. It was obvious to her that even without his sight, Kurosaki-kun perked up when someone he knew and cared for was in the room.

"I still wish I could do more. Is that selfish?" Yuzu muttered, pulling away a little to better wipe her eyes.

"No, it's normal." Unohana absently checked the girl's spirit energy. "Yuzu, can you do something for me? I'm rather tired and don't want to get up . . ."

"Of course, what do you need?" Yuzu straightened.

"Could you get that green crystal for me?" Unohana pointed at a collection of crystal balls, all of varying sizes and colors. The one in question was small compared to the others, about the size of a plum. Yuzu nodded, and went over to pick it up. Unohana watched and smiled as she almost dropped it when it suddenly flashed a brilliant green, and then kept a steady, gentle glow.

"Oh!"

"It's alright, that's a good thing." Unohana smiled gently. Yuzu brought the crystal over. "This is a focusing crystal, but it also acts as a test- someone with enough reiatsu compatable to the crystal will make it glow. This particular crystal is tuned to help those capable of healing learn to focus their energy without harming themselves or their patient. You are still living, but the crystal shows that you're capable of learning and using healing kido." Unohana saw the dawning comprehension on the girl's face, as well as the excitement and hope that she might be able to _do something_. "It'll be a little difficult, but at least, you'll be able to heal your brother and sister when they get hurt."

"Thank you, Unohana-sensei!" Unohana smiled, and returned the hug. It was such a small thing, but even so, it was another pinpoint of light in the dark stormy sea of war.

* * *

Kenpachi Zaraki leaned against the wall in the tiny-random-room-turned-infirmary, focus fully on the pink-haired child lying on the bed. He hated getting separated from Yachiru in battle. She was capable of taking care of herself, he fully knew that, he had trained her after all, and his adopted-daughter was no weakling. But when he found out that she had collapsed after fighting a horde of hollow . . . he almost wished there was a group of hollow he could tear apart for daring to hurt his child.

He glanced at the other two beds that occupied the room- Yumichika had his chest completely covered in bandages, the wounds had to be stitched because they needed to save reiatsu for life threatening wounds.

Zaraki snorted at the mental image of how his fifth seat would react to the scars, and felt his lips twitch. His division may not have been the most disciplined, may not have cared for the unnecessary heroics of saving someone on the battle field or taking a blade meant for another- it was war, people died, there was no reason to be selfish and force someone to live with the guilt that another had died for/because of them.

Better to lose someone and vow to get stronger, then die and destroy someone else's resolve.

Finally he glanced at the third figure- Kurosaki Ichigo. His father and sisters had been shooed out to get some rest by the healers, but the baby arrancar had insisted on staying, and was now curled up so she could rest her head on his chest and listen to the boy's heartbeat.

He was impressed with the kid's strength, and would have loved to cross blades with him, but more importantly, he felt slightly indebted to the boy.

The reason why was simple. When Yachiru went down, it had been the Kurosaki boy who had killed the hollows around her and carried her to a group of shinigami for medical attention. It had been an unnecessary act- Kurosaki didn't know Yachiru, and hadn't stepped in to help other shinigami when they went down. There had been no time to- getting distracted so easily would have gotten him killed.

But he had stopped, and rescued Yachiru. There were several theories- Kurosaki liked rescuing damsels in distress (This was shot down because some of the shinigami's that had been taken down by hollow were female and he hadn't helped them); Kurosaki had heard Yachiru and reacted to the girl's cry of pain because he was a brother and rescued her because it had resembled one of his sisters (also shot down, Yachiru hadn't actually cried out, and Kurosaki knew his sisters were safe); and others that had made him shake his head at how impossible they were.

But for whatever reason, the end result was the same- for good or ill, Kurosaki Ichigo now had the complete support of the eleventh division.

It was a shame that the kid was blind, though, the 11th division might take in people missing a limb or two, but it couldn't take those without sight, hearing or any other disability that might hamper their fighting efficiency- or make them a danger to their own side. Contrary to popular belief, the eleventh was _not_ full of masochists that were cruel enough to cut down their own members if they were in their way. They beat each other bloody in training bouts, sure, but no one ever lost a limb or got run through. Yachiru stirred, and Kenpachi grinned. "Glad to see you decided to wake, brat, what have I told you about taking a nap on a battlefield?"

"Sorry, Ken-chan, didn't mean too!" Yachiru smiled, but didn't sit up. Kenpachi frowned, even as he checked her forehead with one hand. "Ken-chan, what happened to the guy that helped me?" No fever, so she was probably just exhausted. Kenpachi gave a small grin.

"Over there, name's Kurosaki Ichigo." He helped her sit up. "Apparently, the guy's been trapped in Hueco Mundo despite still being alive, got shinigami powers from another shinigami that had been trapped there as well, and has been fighting hollows since."

"Wow- what's that next to him?" Yachiru blinked, eyes widening in curiosity.

"A baby arrancar, name's Nel Tu and she's Ichigo's ward."

"Like me?" Yachiru blinked. "I'm always called your ward."

"Yeah, something like that." Kenpachi laid her back down. Apparently, Yachiru missed it when he said 'baby arrancar', but she looked like she was about to fall asleep again. "Get some more sleep, alright? I don't want you trying to take another nap in the middle of another fight."

"Hai, Ken-tou-chan." She was out like a light, and Kenpachi rolled his eyes at the nickname.

"Night, Yachiru." He muttered, gently tucking her in.

He wasn't the best father figure out there, he knew that, not many would teach their little girls the best way to kill someone and encourage them to beat up adults twice their size and three times their age; but he would rather fight hell and it's demons with his bare hands than refuse to try and protect something of Yachiru's childish innocence.

She was the only reason that he'd fight to keep himself alive in battle- any fool can get killed on the battle field, but it took real strength to keep fighting so one didn't die- he might come back bleeding and half dead, or even missing a limb (he'd had several close calls- mostly because of cowardly sneak attacks), but he would always come back for as long as Yachiru needed him.

(And there was no way in hell he'd let her die before him- why else would he train her to survive? Someday, she'd be stronger than him.)

* * *

**Alright, not much done with moving the plot forward, sorry, but it is an interlude.**

**Next up: I might do Kira and Hisagi, or the Soutaicho and Hisagi . . . definitely Hisagi, though.**


	19. Chapter 19

Shattered Pieces III

Izuru Kira blinked, and then sighed as he stared at the pile of paperwork. Thankfully, most of the damage had been done to barracks and storage buildings, so they didn't have to spend hours re-writing all the reports that were apparently mandatory despite being in a war- why that was the case, he would love to know.

"Oi, somethin' wrong, Izuru-kun?" Kira barely kept from jumping as his captain entered the room. Everything had been strained between them, though the fact Gin Ichimaru had actually been helping them and trying to find Aizen's weak point did alleviate the sting.

"No, nothing's wrong, just thinking." Kira blinked as Gin opened his eyes to look at him for a moment, before giving a wry smile and closing his eyes again.

"I think we're all doin' that." Gin headed over to his desk, and Kira sat down at his. For a moment, the two were silent, trying to read and ignore the elephant in the room.

"Taichou, can you tell me something honestly?" Kira broke the silence.

"Maybe, depends on what it is." Kira nodded, and looked at him.

"Would you have told us, if things had been different?"

" . . . I don't know." Gin opened his eyes. "I don't - Rangiku's the only one I'd do anything for, but even then, I don't tell her everything." Kira could see flickers of regret and discomfort, but it mixed with determination- for what, Kira didn't know. "I only turned on Aizen early because Rangiku could have gotten killed in his plans."

And wasn't that just typical? Kira felt a small twinge of disappointment, some part of him had hoped his captain was loyal to the seireitei, but he supposed he should have known- Ichimaru and Matsumoto were known as the strangest couple of the Soul Society- how else could a busty, bubbly blonde paired with a creepy grinning man, and not be scared of him- be termed? It was well known that Ichimaru had beaten up three shinigami for trying to force themselves on Matsumoto (they were still in therapy), and anyone making lewd comments about the tenth division lieutenant in Ichimaru's hearing were as good as traumatized.

"You wanted me to be honest, Izuru." Kira blinked, and gave his captain a wry smile.

"That I did, sir, but if someone else asks you, you might want to lie- not everyone understands loyalty to just one person." It wasn't even funny, but the two of them had cracked up a few seconds after Kira had spoken. Whether or not they were laughing at the same thing, Kira would never know, but he didn't actually have to- the tension that had been built almost seemed to melt away. They finally stopped laughing, and reluctantly returned back to paperwork.

"Yer wrong about one thing, though, Izuru." Kira blinked and looked at his Taicho. "Well, maybe not wrong, just not right." The fox-like captain looked at him with an awkward honest expression. "I don't . . . I only care about maybe a handful of people, everyone else can burn for all I care."

"Gah!" Kira's reply was cut off as he and Gin both jumped as Isshin Kurosaki was kicked into their shared office- by his dark haired daughter- Karin? "How could you be so mean to your own father?" Isshin pouted.

"It's surprisingly easy when you act like an idiot." She snapped, and Kira looked over at his captain, who's eyes were closed and a small twitching of his lips gave away that he was trying not to smile.

"As amusing as this is- what are you two doing here?" Gin cut in. Karin looked at him, and then handed him a file. Kira got up to look over his shoulder.

"This is why, and will you get up?" Karin glared at her father, who sighed and stood up.

"Co-captains?" Kira blinked.

"Yes- apparently, it's a really old protocol that no one has ever bothered with and only the Sotaicho actually remembers it- but it is possible for there to be two captains in one division." Isshin once again became the former captain he had been- and Kira almost blinked at the change. "Basically, it's just until the war is over and there is time for an actual trial- the sotaicho has a lot of power right now, but the instant they reform the central 46- someone's going to try for your execution. You ticked off a lot of people." Isshin sat on the couch in the office.

"Well, then you can have half my paperwork." Gin pointed to a stack. "I don't care one way or another." Kira blinked, glancing at his taicho. Had there been a trace of bitterness or annoyance in that response?

"Gin." Isshin gave him a look. "You're not going to get locked up or executed, the sotaicho and Onmitsukido are working together- my presence is only a formality, so that when someone does push for the trial, I can say you worked hard on the side of the soul society. Unfortunately, your lieutenant can't count, because he was tricked by you before."

"That's assuming that we survive this." Gin pointed out, but Kira felt the tension that had wrapped around his captain disappear. "And what of this lovely lady?"

"I'm here to make sure he doesn't goof off." Karin responded. "You can consider me his secretary or office assistant or something- that way, you don't try to kill him for being an idiot."

"Karin! What a thing to say about your father!"

"Oya-baka . . ." She muttered. She took the stack of paperwork Gin had pointed out and brought it to the table in front of the couch. "Start working." Kira and Gin actually shared an amused smile, before Kira walked over to his own desk.

"Ah, Karin-chan, I just thought of something- why don't you shadow Kira for the day?" They all blinked and looked over at Gin. "He'll be able to show you around and give you instruction on places to go and what to do." Karin blinked, and Kira saw Isshin give a small smile as he looked at his daughter.

"Is it okay with Kira-san?" She glanced at him, and Kira could only shrug. He wondered if the kid in front of him was a reincarnated shinigami- she had very old eyes- eyes he had only ever seen on shinigami who had been pushed to the point of breaking, recovered, and then refused to break ever again.

"It is alright by me, I have to run some errands for some of this paperwork anyway." Kira had a feeling that his captain and Isshin wanted to talk some more, without an audience. He stood up, and double checked the papers on his desk, taking a few of them. It was only when they were outside that Kira realized that he had no idea how to talk to the girl. "Is it alright if I call you Karin-chan? Or what would you prefer?"

"Just Karin, Kira-san- Should I be calling you lieutenant?" Kira nodded, then tilted his head slightly.

"You can, but I honestly prefer to be called Kira." Karin nodded. "First I need to go to the Barrack cafeteria to check the schedule and make sure the right people are on duty- and if not why, then I have to check the training schedule and make sure no one's messed with it, and check in with the other seated officers. It's going to be a little boring."

"It's fine, as long as I'm doing something." The two started walking, and Kira once again felt slightly awkward in the silence that hung around them. "How long have you been a lieutenant, Kira?"

"Not that long, only about thirty years." Kira stopped when she did, and he realized something. "For a shinigami, that's short- some of us have lived for hundreds of years already." But to a living child, who was (maybe) about 13, that would be a long time. It was strange to think that this girl that was dressed as a shinigami had only been one for barely a few days- in the seireitei and rukongai, time didn't have much meaning, and neither did age, and so some people stayed young for hundreds of years while others chose to age a little quicker.

"Huh, wonder how old Goat Face really is, then." Karin shrugged. They began walking, and Kira studied the girl with a slightly uncomfortable feeling in his chest. This was a war between Shinigami and Hollows- the living shouldn't be involved with it, and yet a group of humans were. A quincy who had no reason to help the shinigami (would probably have made more sense for him to side with Aizen and the hollows, actually), two teens with abilities that seemed to have a mix of shinigami and hollow, Karin's sister was also human, but as far as Kira knew didn't actually have any abilities, and then Karin and her brother, both of whom had gained Shinigami powers, one had hers given a jumpstart by an exile, the other had his own awakened by a dying shinigami.

And none of them was older than sixteen. None of them should be concerned about the affairs of the afterlife- they should be busy living their lives in the living world. Aizen had a lot to answer for, and playing with the lives of children was on that list. The visit to the cafeteria went quickly, and once again Kira was grappling for something to talk about.

"So, where's your sister? You're twins, right?"

"Fraternal- and she's at the fourth with our brother. She and Orihime have decided to help out over there, Yuzu's acting as the assistant to the seventh seat, Hanataro." Karin explained. Kira nodded.

"I see, so you decided to, keep an eye on your dad?" He hoped she hadn't noticed the pauses- it had been hard trying to figure out what the girl's motive would be.

"That, and hopefully get some training. I'd like to get to shikai at some point so I can better protect my sister." Karin helped him pin up the new training schedule- someone had written 'We're all going to die!' in bold red right over it, while someone else had written 'No, this isn't the Eleventh', right under the red. He blinked as Karin suddenly crouched down and wrote something on a spare sheet of paper, before pinning it up.

It was a very simple sign. 'You're already dead, so unless you want to be a hollow, man up and train!' Kira stared at it, then at Karin, who looked back at him a little defiantly.

"What? It's true." Kira gave a small smile.

"I was thinking the same thing, actually." Karin blinked, and gave a small smirk before carrying the old schedule to the trash can nearby. Kira thought for a moment. "Karin, there's no one training right now, would you like to get some training in? My errands aren't time sensitive." The eager nod and 'yes' that followed the surprise and eager glint in Karin's dark eyes made him smile again. They were children that were forced into this war, the least he could do was make sure they had that the ability to survive it.

* * *

Shuuhei Hisagi sighed as he walked into the 1st Division. Things had been crazy, and he had the feeling that they were in the eye of a hurricane, just waiting for the next wave. Rumor had it that they were cut off from the living world, and not even Mayuri and Urahara combinded could figure out why.

The good news was that they were only missing one captain- one for his division- and that they had allies that were willing to help them fight. Powerful ones at that. He sighed again, they hadn't been able to print the magazine due to the sudden attack, and his division had been spread thin along with the sixth protecting and evacuating Nobles to their safe houses ( more than half of which were actually in the living world, which lent some doubt to the rumors). The ninth had always been in charge of security and communication, just like the fourth always took care of healing and supplies, the eleventh focused on heavy combat, and the twelfth focused on technology and research.

Unfortunately, no division was actually prepared for war, and the ninth had been scrambling to find a way to reliably get messages out, with aid from the twelfth and the second (Soifon was not happy that some of the Onmitsukido techniques for communication had been given to Mayuri). Hisagi was nowhere near reaching Bankai- he'd been a lieutenant for about as long as Kira, and had been promoted to lieutenant rather quickly by Tousen- and therefore unable to become a captain. Meaning that his division was still struggling to deal with the gap.

That left him wondering why the Sotaicho wanted to meet with him. The 1st division lieutenant was waiting for him outside the doors of the Sotaicho's office, and let him in. "Hisagi-fukutaicho is here, sir."

"Thank you, Sasakibe-fukutaicho." The Sotaicho nodded from where he sat at his desk. "Hisagi-fukutaicho, your division is the only one without a captain, and it has become blatantly clear that we will need all the captains we can get. Ichimaru-taicho has returned to his post at the third division, but he shares it with the former taicho, Kurosaki Isshin. The fifth is under the temporary captainship of its own former Taicho, the Vizard Hirako Shinji. I believe a similar situation will be the best for the ninth. However, the remaining vizards are needed to guard Karakura town, and are unable to come." Hisagi felt waves of apprehension and hope- though for what he didn't know. "I found a possible candidate, and have already tested him and found him capable of leading the ninth as temporary captain." There was a movement by the pillars that led out to the balcony, and Hisagi almost jumped.

"And I still think you must be senile, Gramps, You're just going to do more harm than good with this."

"Shuhei Hisagi-fukutaicho, meet temporary ninth division captain Ichigo Kurosaki." Hisagi blinked as he looked at the human turned shinigami, he was wearing a regular shinigami uniform- one who's top was a little small for him, on that note, it must have been borrowed from someone- with the white captains coat over it, and his katana was sheathed at his side. He looked about the same age as Hisagi, but was slightly taller. Messy orange hair fell into his eyes, and the slight scowl on his face seemed to be a default expression. Hisagi couldn't quite read him, but from the annoyance and stubborn look the Sotaicho had when Kurosaki had spoken, it was clear that the man in front of him was capable of leading (the soutaicho was rarely wrong about such things) and didn't want to.

"Kurosaki-san, it would be an honor to work with you." Hisagi had heard plenty of rumors about Kurosaki Isshin's son, chief one being that he beat the strongest espada and had a baby arrancar that had imprinted on him and that bond made him incapable of purifying it (and those were the less outlandish ones).

Kurosaki let out a slight breath, looking resigned. "Arigato, Hisagi-san, I shall try not to be an inconvenice."

"Hisagi-fukutaicho, please show Kurosaki-taicho to the captain's quarters in the 9th Barracks, and get him aquainted with the area. His ward, Nel Tu, will join him later- she is rather adamant that she stay close to him. You are both dismissed."

"Hai, Soutaicho." Both replied, and exited as Sasakibe re-entered. For a moment, the two stood awkwardly- unsure of what to say or do. Hisagi was relieved when Kurosaki spoke first.

"Since the Soutaicho's memory seems to be slipping, let me add something he forgot to mention. I'm blind, and while I can use reiatsu sensing to place people and objects, that doesn't always work. I'm also really bad with names, especially when I don't talk to a person very often or I don't have a reason to remember." Hisagi blinked and glanced at the Soutaicho's door. "So I'm not sure how he plans for me to do reports or paperwork . . ."

"Reiatsu infused ink." Hisagi replied, and saw the confusion. "I can explain as we go." The two began walking to the 9th. "The Ninth's last Taicho was Kaname Tosen- he was,"

"Also blind." Kurosaki supplied, surprising Hisagi.

"Yes, how did you know?"

"I met him when I was a prisoner in Los Noches, we talked for a bit- I remember because he was the first person I actually talked to about being blind. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I'd remember his name if I talked to him again." Kurosaki shrugged. "So how did he manage paperwork?"

"Reiatsu can easily fuse with any liquid, and stays fused even when it dries and won't fade for several hundred years. All reports and orders sent to taicho's are sent with the ink infused with the reiatsu of the sender, acting as a security measure so false documents aren't slipped in. So all you have to do is use your reiatsu sensing on the edges of the paper, and then write. I can let you know if it's legible or not." Hisagi had watched the dawning hope on Kurosaki's face as he explained. It sent a small pang of sympathy through him- he couldn't imagine not being able to see, but what really got to him was the fact that Kurosaki's objections to taking the role of taicho were because he didn't know how to deal with things that everyone else did daily without a second thought. "Tosen also had things he said were 'cues' for the times when he didn't use reiatsu sensing to move around, I can show you a couple that I know of." For the first time, the slight scowl completely vanished, and it was replaced by a small, wry, half-smile.

"Then let's go."

Hisagi showed Kurosaki around the ninth, introducing him to members of the division and getting him orientated. Hisagi was surprised by the delight that briefly crossed the others face when he showed him the books Tousen had had them print with reiatsu-infused ink, and was relieved to hear that his new taicho actually enjoyed reading pretty much anything as long as it had a good plot or useful information.

Kurosaki also proved quite adept at deciphering codes- another good surprise for the still slightly stressed lieutenant- and at defensive strategy ("Offensive strategy, I just have one- go, beat up whoever it is, and come back." He had muttered to Hisagi's amusement.) And by the end of the tour, meeting the division, and learning the different offices, Hisagi was pleased to see the members of the division easily accepting their new captain- and when Nel Tu, the baby arrancar showed up at dinner, they were equally as accepting, if slightly hesitant, of their captain's ward.

All in all, the only thing that would have made the day better is if he'd gotten a chance to talk to Rangiku.

**There two of the hardest characters for me to write, done. A quick note- this is an AU, and the characters have developed differently than in the manga and anime. So unless someone is blatantly out of character- like, Nemu acting more like Yachiru- don't flame me about it. This is a character driven story, so I'll be focusing on the possibilities on why they act a certain way, which may or may not be what Tite Kubo intended them to be interpreted, or how you the reader interprets the character, as well as how they might grow in a situation like this.**

**And to head off some reviews- I realize that it is highly unlikely that Ichigo would actually become a captain. However, (and we'll get more of the reasoning next chapter) the majority of the shinigami don't actually know Ichigo's history beyond the rumors Hisagi mentioned. As a result, the soutaicho is making him captain as a morale booster- a shinigami that spent a classified amount of time in Hueco Mundo (and you can bet the exact time is never going to be mentioned, thus the other shinigami are going to make it much longer), with an arrancar 'bonded' to him (varying between 'sibling' and 'servant' bond, of course) and who beat the Cero espada and saved the others (huh, looks like they're missing the part where he was captured and almost killed) is pretty much prime hero material and morale fuel. Ichigo of course, has no idea of the rumors, he just knows the Soutaicho is up to something.**


End file.
